Sindh govt forms JIT to interrogate alleged attackers. PHOTO: AFP
Four more suspects allegedly involved in the deadly Safoora bus attack have been rounded up in raids in Karachi and other cities of Sindh.
Officials close to the ongoing investigation into the May 13 massacre told The Express Tribune that the law enforcement agencies have arrested four more attackers on the information gleaned from by the suspects already in custody. They have been shifted to an undisclosed location for interrogation.
At least 45 people, including women, from the peaceful Ismaili community were killed and another half a dozen were wounded when gunmen boarded a bus carrying around 60 passengers near Safoora Chowrangi in Sachal Goth and methodically killed those on board.
Within a week of the grisly massacre, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah announced the arrest of the alleged mastermind and three prime suspects, who were also said to be involved in a number of other high-profile attacks in Karachi.
One of the arrested men also confessed to the murder of The Second Floor (T2F) director Sabeen Mahmud, attack on the Bohra community and the police.
Those arrested first were Saad Aziz alias Tin Tin, a business administration graduate from the prestigious IBA; Muhammad Azhar Ishrat alias Majid, an electronics engineer from Sir Syed University; Hafiz Nasir alias Yasir, who holds a Master’s degree in Islamic Studies from Karachi University; and Tahir Hussain Minhas alias Sain Nazir, the suspected mastermind of the attack.
However, the identification of those arrested on Saturday was not disclosed. “We have arrested a few more of their accomplices,” confirmed Sindh IGP Ghulam Hyder Jamali while talking to The Express Tribune.
JIT formed
The Sindh Home Department has formed a joint interrogation team (JIT) to interrogate the arrested suspects. Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) DIG Arif Hanif will head the JIT with officials of the Sindh police, Rangers, Federal Investigation Agency, Inter-Services Intelligence, Military Intelligence and Intelligence Bureau also a part of the investigations.
IGP Jamali said the officials would question the suspects about all the attacks they had been involved in and ascertain the whereabouts of their absconding accomplices.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 25th, 2015.
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