Seven 'terrorists' arrested in Karachi madrassa raid

Police say the seminary and the arrested men are affiliated with a notorious TTP commander

KARACHI: The Sindh police’s Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) said it had arrested seven suspected terrorists in a raid at a madrassa in the Hyder Chali area of SITE in Karachi on Wednesday.

The CTD along with the district administration conducted a search operation at al-Kareem Islamic Academy and rounded up seven men.

CTD Intelligence SSP Omar Shahid Hamid said the seminary was affiliated with and established by Mufti Shakir, a dangerous terrorist and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan commander responsible for killing several policemen in districts Central and West of the city in 2013 and 2014. He is also suspected of involvement in the assassination of martyred CTD SP Chaudhry Aslam.



The official added that Shakir was revealed to be the mastermind behind the group that was "neutralised" by the CTD on August 7. The group, he said, was planning large-scale attacks in Karachi. The terrorist is also suspected to be behind at least one group that is involved in killings in the city.

The seven suspects are being interrogated, SSP Shahid said.

Separately, Rangers said they had arrested eight people. A spokesperson for the paramilitary force said they had conducted raids in Soldier Bazaar, Baldia Town and Darakshan localities and nabbed three members of a gang of robbers.

They were identified as Ghulam Nabi, Zubair alias Chhipa and Ahmed Ali alias Bawa and are believed to be involved in several robberies.



Three more suspects were arrested by Rangers during snap checking in Rizvia. The spokesperson said that one of them was Rao Asif, who was pretending to be a Pakistan Army officer. The other two were identified as Abid and Iftikhar, and fake CNICs were seized from them.

Two more men allegedly involved in drug peddling were arrested during a raid in Darakshan. They were identified as Furqan Shah and Ghulam Haider.

According to the Rangers spokesperson, weapons, ammunition and drugs were seized from them. They were handed over to police.