Suspected knifeman to remain in Punjab police custody

Karachi police fail to obtain custody of Muhammad Waseem

KARACHI: The arrest of a suspect in the case of 13 stabbings in Karachi made headlines but the case is not as cut and dried as it seemed.

The Sahiwal police have decided to hand over the infamous ‘knifeman’ to the Lahore police instead of the Karachi police. The custody of the suspect, Muhammad Waseem, is likely to be handed over today (Tuesday). Waseem has also denied his involvement in the 13 stabbings in Karachi as well as the two reported cases in Lahore, The Express Tribune learnt on Monday.

"We are trying our level best to obtain his custody first but the Sahiwal police are first handing over his custody to the Lahore police in connection with the two similar recent incidents [stabbings] that occurred in Lahore," said District Korangi SSP Captain (retd) Haider Raza, head of the Karachi police team dispatched to Punjab to arrest and obtain custody of the prime suspect in the attacks.

"After getting custody, the Lahore police will get his remand for further investigations as the Lahore police also suspect him of being the prime suspect in similar attacks that occurred on October 11." SSP Raza said that the Lahore police will first investigate his involvement in the cases and later hand him over to the Karachi police. However, he said nothing could be confirmed till the investigation process was completed.



The accused, however, denied his involvement in the cases. "I am not a psychopath nor am I a jilted lover. I have never been involved in any kind of [stabbing] incident, not in Sahiwal, Chicha Watni, Karachi or Lahore,” SSP Raza quoted him as saying.  “I was not even in Karachi when the incidents occurred, in fact I have never visited Karachi," said the police officer while quoting the suspect's initial interrogation. The officer said that the proper official interrogation with the accused would be initiated after he is in the Karachi police's custody and is brought to the port city.

The SSP said after a proper investigation is conducted, including intensive interrogation of the suspect, his involvement would be proven.

Investigators said that it has yet to be ascertained whether Waseem is actually involved in the series of attacks on women in Karachi but for now he remains their prime suspect. "We cannot rule out his involvement until we interrogate him properly," explained a senior police official.

"After interrogation, we would be able to understand whether he is the man involved in the incidents in Karachi or whether it was someone else. But our investigation is not limited to Waseem alone; we are still looking for the attacker on the chance that someone else is involved in the incidents,” he said.



The deployment of Karachi policemen in uniforms and plainclothes has not been reduced in Gulshan-e-Iqbal Town and its surrounding areas.

The suspected knife-wielding motorcyclist was arrested in a joint operation conducted by the Sahiwal and Karachi police on Sunday from Mandi Bahuddin and he is currently in the custody of the Sahiwal police.

As many as 13 women were stabbed by the knife-wielding suspect in various neighbourhoods of Gulshan-e-Iqbal in the span of 10 days. The stabbing spree began on September 25 and the last incident in Karachi was reported on October 5.

Waseem has been allegedly involved in dozens of cases similar attacks in Chicha Watni and Sahiwal during 2013 and 2014. However, he was later released in 2016 due to lack of evidence. His brother and a friend have also been taken into custody by Sahiwal police. The attacker's modus operandi in Karachi has significant similarities with the assaults that were carried out in Punjab.



The suspect usually wears a helmet and uses a sharp object such as a paper cutter, surgical blade or knife to carry out attacks on women.

The Sindh police had also announced a reward of Rs1 million for anyone who provides any information to law enforcement agencies with regard to the identity of the attacker.

The photographs captured from the closed-circuit television footage of the incidents showed an attacker astride a motorcycle who appeared to be between 20 and 29 years of age. He had a slim physique and was estimated to be between five feet and seven inches and five feet and nine inches tall.