Pak serial killer8217;s accomplices held

Iqbal, 40, reportedly said he became a serial killer to avenge the humiliation he suffered at the hands of a rapist and a police officer who, instead of prosecuting the rapist, protected him.

8220;Today, November 25, 1999, I have decided to commit suicide. Yesterday I killed my employee, Sajid, and incinerated his body in the acid container 8230; Now I can go to sleep in the depths of the river Ravi,8221; the newspaper Dawn quoted him as saying. A packet containing photographs and information on 57 of his victims accompanied the letter. Jang said the killer approached the newspaper after police failed to act on the letters he had sent to them. Iqbal said he found his victims among homeless boys, aged 10 to 15, at a well-known shrine and the red light area of Lahore.

Dawn quoted him as saying in his letter: 8220;The runaway children seek refuge there and learn to commit murder, theft, pick-pocketing and become involved in immoral activities. If the government failed to check this, people will find a solution, like I did.8221;

Newspapers today said about 40 families have identified their children from the clothes and pictures catalogued by the killer. 8220;That does not mean the kids are dead 8211; not until their bodies or any corroborating evidence is found,8221; the Nation newspaper quoted a police officer as saying.