An alleged hit-man, who killed 24 people, including Pakistan Peoples Party workers and three policemen, in Orangi Town in 1994, was arrested by the Special Investigation Unit (SIU).
SP Khurram Waris claimed that the suspect had 100 murders to his name.
While speaking at a press conference at the SIU office on Tuesday, the SP said that Rana Mohammad Tasawar was arrested in a raid carried out in Saddar. They seized a Kalashnikov and a TT pistol from him. Initial investigation suggested that Tasawar was also involved in many robberies and kidnapping cases.
Discussing the suspect with the media, SP Waris said that he took shelter with three political parties and killed activists from the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, Mohajir Qaumi Movement-Haqiqi, Pakistan Peoples Party, Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz, and many policemen. “Tasawar did not work for one party,” said SP Waris. “A few months after he joined one party, he started killing its members and activists because he had already joined the other party.” He added that during the initial investigation, the suspect confessed to killing over 100 people in the last 24 years. The last person he killed was a police constable in 2010.
Tasawar was from Punjab and arrived in Karachi as a target killer in 1988.
According to SP Waris, Tasawar had confessed to attacking with his accomplices in Baldia Town in which four policemen, including SHO Mohammad Siddiq, were killed. He also confessed to have killed six JSQM workers in Mehran Town in 2008, two Rangers and eight MOM-H workers in Landhi.
The Pak Colony police claimed to have arrested two Lyari gangsters identified as Jahanzaib and Akbar Ali in a raid in Old Golimar. They seized two Kalashnikovs from them.
Ghulam Bashir, a registrar at Dawood College of Engineering and Technology, and his son Farooq Ahmed were shot at and injured on Tuesday, said the New Town Police.
They claimed that the father and son were near Stadium Road when eight men on six motorcycles opened fire on them. They were taken to Aga Khan University Hospital. The police registered FIR No. 260/12 against the suspects on a complaint filed by Bashir.
Elsewhere, a man identified as 33-year-old Syed Mehdi Raza was gunned down near the Inquiry Office, said the Nazimabad police. They claim that two men on a motorcycle shot Raza four times while on his way to Imamia Imambargah for Zuhr prayers. The body was taken to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital. According to SHO Iqbal Sheikh, Raza, the youngest of 10 siblings, used to work at a printing press in Nazimabad and was a resident of New Karachi. Raza’s older brother Riaz, is a trustee of Imambargah Aal-e-Mohammad in Karachi. The SHO said that the initial investigation suggested that this was a target killing.
Scholar and leader of the Jaffaria Alliance Pakistan, Allama Abbas Kumaili, condemned the attack and said that the government should arrest and punish the killers. He added that this year, 36 people from the Ahle Tasheeh community had been killed.
Two men affiliated with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement were found murdered in Malir and near Super Highway. Thirty-five-year-old Mohammad Azhar Ali’s body was found in a Memon graveyard in Malir. He was shot in the head. The body of 24-year-old Kamran Ali was found near Ganna Mandi on Super Highway, said the police. He was shot four times. DSP Iftikar Lodhi said that both men lived in Gulshan-e-Maymar and were associated with the MQM’s Ahsanabad unit. He added that the men had been kidnapped earlier. The bodies were taken to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre. As the news of their deaths spread, MQM workers and supporters reached the hospital to protest. The police claim that Azhar worked at Pakistan Steel Mills and Kamran worked a private company.
Three unidentified men were found murdered in Bakra Piri, Malir and 51-B Korangi.
Anwar Alam alias Babu Bhai was gunned down in Tariq Road on Tuesday, said the Ferozabad police. They claim that 39-year-old Alam was a resident of Block 2 PECHS and was an active worker of MQM’s unit 63 and was a former councilor of UC-7. DSP Ghulam Murtaza Malik said that Alam was shot while sitting at a park near his house. He was taken to JPMC. As the news of his death spread, business activities in Tipu Sultan Road, Khalid Bin Waleed Road, Bahadurabad and Tariq Road came to a halt.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 16th, 2012.
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Rana Mohammad Tasawar commenced his killing spree in Karachi in 1988 according to police statement.
Why did it take 24 long years to nab this person? Who was providing him cover for so long? Who were his handlers? What motivated him to become a killer? How many FIRs have been lodged against him?
Will 100 murders send him to the gallows? I doubt!
Not the first time we hear story like this. What next ? We want to see the trial running and justice be done before every thing is lost behind the fog. If the SP fails to prove what he claims, or forced to move away from his present posting (Over-night transfer to some remote interior), than we know its a cover up of criminal as usual.
Tasawar was from Punjab and arrived in Karachi as a target killer in 1988. Now..that is an interesting revelation.
he is monster, they must show his picture, so his family and friend felel shame. you cannot do these crimes without your close friend and family knowledge.