‘Militants’ killed after Rao Anwar attack yet to be identified

Former Malir SSP's convoy came under attack on the Malir Link Road on Saturday.

KARACHI: The suspected militants killed following an attack on former Malir SSP Rao Anwar on the Malir Link Road on Saturday evening have yet to be identified, while the police have registered a case about the incident.

Anwar is currently facing suspension after he addressed a controversial press conference on Thursday about the arrests of two suspects, Tahir alias Lamba and Mama Junaid, who he claimed were members of the Indian spy agency Research and Analysis Wing. A joint investigation team has been formed to probe his allegations.

Anwar's armoured convoy came under attack on Saturday evening when, according to him, he was on his way to visit the site where Bin Qasim DSP Abdul Fateh Sangri was killed on Friday. Assailants on motorcycles and a car hurled a hand grenade at the former SSP's convoy. Anwar claimed that five suspected militants were killed in the ensuing encounter, while their accomplices escaped.

Although the deceased suspects have yet to be identified, the police believed that they were affiliated with militant outfits. "They may have belonged to alQaeda or the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan," Steel Town SHO Haroon Korai told The Express Tribune, adding that there was so far no development in the case.

The police have registered FIR No 130/15 on behalf of the state against the militants killed and their absconding accomplices under the Anti-Terrorism Act. Further investigations have been initiated.

The bodies of the militants were taken to the Edhi morgue in Sohrab Goth for identification. "The bodies will remain here while we wait for their heirs," said Ghulam Hussain, the morgue in-charge, while talking to The Express Tribune. "Some people visited the morgue but they did not return."

Meanwhile, the bodies of four suspected militants killed late on Saturday night in an alleged encounter with the Counter Terrorism Department in Ittehad Town, Baldia Town, also remained unidentified at the Edhi morgue.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 4^th, 2015.