All suspects involved in Lahore girls' abduction arrested: police

• Police brings back girls from Sahiwal to Lahore.
  
• Girls shifted to Punjab Child Protection and Welfare Bureau.
• Medical reports awaited to determine whether they were raped.
  

All the suspects involved in the abduction of four Lahore girls — of the same neighbourhood — have been arrested, DIG Investigation Shariq Jamal said Thursday, days after the minors were reported kidnapped.

The police official, addressing a press conference in Lahore, said all the suspects are being interrogated, and that the police have visited the crime scene in Lahore and Sahiwal and collected all the evidence.

Jamal said the police had brought the girls back to Lahore from Sahiwal — where they were "sold as part of a deal" between a man named Shehzad and another man.

The police official said Sahiwal police had raided Shehzad's brothel on August 3 from where the girls were found and a case in this regard was registered in the city.

The girls were presented before a court today and with their consent, they were later handed over to the Punjab Child Protection and Welfare Bureau (CPBW), Jamal said.

"This was an important case and I thank God that we were able to recover the girls safely, as [the suspects] wanted to use these girls in an extremely heinous business."

Responding to a question, he said their medical tests were being conducted and interviews were underway, however, medical reports are awaited to determine rape.

"We did not waste a second in this investigation," the official said when asked whether the police showed negligence and delayed the matter.

Jamal, responding to another question, said the girls "were not happy at their homes and that is why, with their consent, we have sent them to the child protection bureau".

The DIG investigation said it was not clear whether the suspects were keeping more girls hostage. If such is the case, they will all be recovered, he said.

The suspects, due to media's constant reporting on the case, called on the helpline number 15 through an unknown number after which Sahiwal police recovered the girls and handed them over to the Lahore police, Jamal said.

Earlier in the day, Qasim, the main suspect, had made shocking revelations before the investigation team, police said.

During the initial interrogation, Qasim confessed he had sold one of the girls to Shehzad for Rs100,000, while Shehzad made a deal with another person in Sahiwal for Rs150,000.

Qasim said he and the other suspects had decided to hand over the girls to the police, and so left the on the side of a road in Sahiwal.