Azhar Hussain and Zain Ali were killed while Ayaz was injured when armed motorcyclists opened fire at a scouts camp at Numaish Chowrangi. It is believed that activists of the banned organisation were behind the attack since they held their annual Yaum-e-Omar rally at Tibet Centre earlier in the day.
Later, the Rangers and police cracked down on the SSP - that works under the new name Ahle Sunnat wal Jamaat (ASWJ), and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) activists.
The first stop was the ASWJ central office, Jama Masjid Siddiq-e-Akbar, at Nagan Chowrangi. Four suspects were arrested, including, two sons of slain central leader, Maulana Abdul Ghaffoor Nadeem.
The father and son of the president of ASWJ’s Karachi division, Maulana Rab Nawaz, were apprehended from Old Golimar. Maulana Allah Wasaya’s two sons were caught from Jama Masjid Gulzar-e-Habib in Korangi, the president of district East, Maulana Saeed Akbar, from Ameer Mavia Masjid in Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Maulana Habibur Rehman from Shershah and Hafiz Ramzan was taken into custody from Jama Masjid Noor in Jubilee area.
Mosques, madrassahs and homes were also raided in North Karachi, Korangi, Shah Faisal Colony, Landhi, Malir, Nazimabad and New Karachi.
Around 42 suspects, arrested from Khatm-e-Nabuwwat Masjid, remained in police custody while the remaining 28, which included women and children, were released. Four others, who were involved in violence, are also in police custody. The ASWJ condemned the crackdown and claimed it was a conspiracy against the organisation by the government, law enforcement agencies and their rival groups. Their spokesman, Maulana Taj Hanafi, said that two workers, Omar Farooq and Munir, were attacked and injured by a rival group near Imambargah Ali Raza on MA Jinnah Road when they were returning from the party’s rally. The scouts were targeted later by unidentified men.
“When our people were shot at, they ran for their lives and took refuge in a mosque,” he said. “That is when unidentified culprits shot and killed the scouts.”
He confirmed that his party’s workers were detained. He warned of a protest on MA Jinnah Road on Ashura if they were not released till Monday night. “Over 100 of our innocent workers were arrested without any reason,” Hanafi said. “When we tried to find out the reason, the government told us that they were pressured politically and by our rival groups, and they had to do it.”
Investigations
According to investigators, the scouts were shot dead after they had an argument with four ASWJ men. The police went through the footage from the 18 closed-circuit cameras installed at Numaish Chowrangi. It showed that four men with an ASWJ flag and riding two motorcycles were stopped by the boy scouts for checking when they were returning from the Yaum-e-Omar rally.
“The boys stopped them for checking and they exchanged hot words,” said a source. “During the argument, an ASWJ flag fell down, after which they opened fire.”
Karachi AIG Ghulam Shabbir Sheikh confirmed this but declined to share more details. A special team was set up for investigating the killings and the violence that followed. However, the cases, for murder and violence still have to be registered at Soldier Bazaar and Brigade police stations. The police were waiting for the families to register the murder cases and an order from the government for lodging a case for the violence.
Sindh Home Minister Manzoor Wassan visited Numaish Chowrangi after he met with the Shia leaders. He assured them of strict action against the miscreants. He said that around 51 suspects involved in the attack were caught and they will be exposed soon in the FIR.
Funeral prayers
The funeral prayers of the scouts were offered in Khairul Aman Imambargah at Ancholi on Sunday night. Azhar Hussain was laid to rest at Wadi-e-Hussain Graveyard while Zain Ali was later buried in Chakwal, his hometown. Scores of people who came to attend the funeral also staged a protest at Shara-e-Pakistan.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 29th, 2011.
COMMENTS (12)
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@Noise, absolutely not. Any human life is as important.
@bigsaf, No, I do have other sources of what has happened since revolution of Iran took place. Since when was the main artery of the biggest city blocked for two days every year and no one on that road can do any thing except take part in the procession. Since when did the killing of great scholars like Maulana Yusuf Luhianwi, Mufti Shamzai, Allama Turabi etc. start taking place.
Were these events prior to the Iranian revolution or after that ?
The literature distributed which created hatred due to which someone is even ready to kill, when did this start ?
Even after an agreement took place between the rival shia - sunni groups which has signatures of their respective leadership, this hatred literature still flourishes which causes these issues. It is after mutual respect of the each other elders (of the past) which will solve this issue, but you are trying to suggest that this can't be done.
@maryum:
It's like suggesting rounding up KKK members is a bad thing because it'll 'raise tensions', between 2 groups!
No, it's rounding up bigoted extremist activists of an organization who have a history of targeting the minority communities they hate.
Anyhowz, some good/or sad, depending on your perspective, news.
http://tribune.com.pk/story/299452/police-seize-huge-cache-of-weapons-from-karachi-graveyard/
If you want to prevent a riot or tensions (after a massacre instigated but we're not interested in that fact apparently...), this is how you do it.
@Abdullah: Do I sense a hint of sectarian resentment or prejudice and needless tit for tat point?
Odd that you zeroed in on the Boulton market arson, which indeed the culprits should be arrested and charged (but apparently as Absar Shah suggests, were finished off in targeted killings), yet, if I remember correctly, it was a reactionary violent protest against something that happened before all that, and has become a common theme of anti-minority terrorism which still has not been resolved clearly considering this year's bad start......you know...the huge bomb blast that murdered over 30 people in the procession which instigated it back at end of 2009?
But of course that part of the chaos and violence or those lives aren't your concern is it?
While the culprits of the bomb attack back then were supposedly caught, here we are back to square one on sectarian violence with yet another murder, with another riot following it....but I guess you'll just keep track of the riots and take issue when I talk of the source, that is the murders and massacres by such groups.
Wonder why...
I don't unerstand the logic of why, police has to round up innocents to match the number of terrorists they alledgely apprehend. It is sad fact that,Pakistan is the one of the few backward countries in the World, where people can be systematically killed just because of their religion/ conscience, the last time that happened was before second World war in Germany. I don't know why, coward terrorists are given licence to kill by our establishment, or there is no real men left in our country!
So SSP is Ahle Sunnat wal Jamaat. TTP is Taliban. What is next? Apples will be called Oranges?
@Abdullah: in case u didnt notice, several culprits identified via CCTV footage involved in post Ashura Blast arson attacks have been killed in various target killing incidents in past 2.5 yrs .. most of them belonged to a political party and also u might not have watched the interrogation video of Ajmal Pahari
@bigsaf, Similar to what was done for the shops which were burnt in boulton market two years back even after having CCTV footage of arsonists.
Good but i'm sure after Moharram these guy will be released as it happens all the time. Govt / Army will have to be serious if they really want better pakistan in the future or else we will be fighting amongst each other. These extremist elements should be removed permanently!
Wonder if there'll be serious justice after the action or it'll all be a whitewash and charade.