Buzdar announces Rs5m bounty on murderers of Kasur children.

ISLAMABAD: Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar announced on Friday Rs 5 million bounty for anyone providing information to authorities on the perpetrators of horrifying rape-cum-murder of three minor boys in Kasur district.

Protests broke out in Kasur's Chunian tehsil early Wednesday, a day after the bodies of the three missing children were found. The discovery once again sent the country in deep shock.

The chief minister made the announcement while speaking to the media after meeting the family of one of the victims, Faizan. He said he had suspended all the police officers found negligent in preventing the horrifying incidents.

"We are with you in this hour of grief," Buzdar said, promising to bring the perpetrators to justice. He said there was no pressure on the law enforcers and the incidents would be investigated on merit.

The chief minister said his government would provide whichever resources were sought by the police. "We will not tolerate black sheep in the police," he warned.

Buzdar said the Punjab Forensic Science Agency was conducting DNA tests, anti-terrorism clauses had been included in the case, and a special court would conduct the trial.

He said the Dolphin Force had been deployed in Chunian, while it would also be linked to the Safe City Lahore.

The chief minister also announced establishment of a Child Protection Cell in the district. Kasur has long been at the centre stage of child abuse in Pakistan, with several cases surfacing from across the district over the past years. In January 2018, the body of a minor girl, Zainab, was found from a garbage heap. She was raped and murdered. The incident had sent shock waves across the country drawing calls for the arrest of and stern punishment to the perpetrator.

Police arrested Zainab's murderer, Imran Ali, with the help of DNA testing. He was subsequently sentenced to death and executed in October, 2018.

However, the recent discovery of the...