Slow progress: Karachi knife attacker's accomplice remanded for questioning till October 18

AVCC officials found involved in illegally detaining citizens for involvement in attacks on women

KARACHI: The administrative judge of the anti-terrorism courts remanded on Friday a suspect, claimed to be the alleged accomplice of the knife attacker, to the custody of the police.

Police produced Mohammad Shahzad before the court, alleging that he was a close aide of Mohammad Waseem, the alleged knife attacker who has been targeting women in the last couple of weeks in the metropolis.

The investigating officer claimed that the suspect was a close friend of the main suspect and they belonged to the same village in Sahiwal.

The investigator told the judge that Shahzad was arrested on Thursday and a knife was found in his possession. The investigation officer said that the detained suspect had disclosed that Waseem had come to Karachi around a month ago. Shahzad said that he was not directly involved and allegedly provided backup support to the main suspect, Waseem, during the attacks and carried out reconnaissance, the officer told the judge.



The suspect had revealed that the alleged attacker was suffering from a psychological disorder since he enjoyed the news aired on media about the incidents, the investigating officer said.

He said that the alleged attacker had also attacked women in Sahiwal in 2015, but later he was released on bail.

The officer sought the custody of the detained suspect for questioning in a case registered at the Sharae Faisal police station for stabbing an 18-year-old girl in Gulshan-e-Jamal on October 5.

He maintained that further interrogation of the suspect was required to complete the investigation and track down the fleeing main suspect, Waseem.



The administrative judge handed the suspect over to police on a six-day physical remand and directed the IO to produce him again with a progress report on October 18.

A case was registered under sections 324, 354, 337(F) (1) and 109 of the Pakistan Penal Code read with Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997.

Illegal detentions

Meanwhile, the South additional district and sessions judge has ordered Inspector-General of Police Allah Dino Khawaja to initiate departmental action against the police officials and personnel involved in illegal detentions of citizens during the search for the knife attacker in the city.



The court ordered to conduct an inquiry against the Anti-Violent Crime Cell (AVCC) SHO Irshad Jut and his team members and also ordered IG Khawaja to appoint an SSP-rank officer to conduct an inquiry against them.

The judge also ordered to submit a report within seven days. The AVCC officials were found involved in illegally detaining citizens at their office while accusing them of being involved in the recent attacks on women in Karachi.

IG Khawaja, while taking notice of the illegal detentions of the citizens by the police, especially by the specialised units of the Karachi police, said that such incidents are presenting a bad image of the entire police force.



He directed the commandant chiefs of the specialised units to ensure regular visits to their units to avoid such illegal detentions of the citizens by their juniors and to punish those who were found to be involved in such illegal activities.