Anti-Extremist Cell: Four ‘LeJ men’ arrested

Suspects confess to murdering at least four people.

KARACHI:

The Crime Investigation Department’s (CID) Anti-Extremism Cell (AEC) claimed to have arrested four men allegedly affiliated with the banned militant outfit, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ). Officials, while disclosing the arrests on Tuesday, said that Munawar Alam, Mohammad Shahid, Khawaja Talat and Mohammad Ali were arrested after an encounter on Hub River Road.

AEC chief SSP Chaudhry Aslam Khan said his department deployed their personnel on Hub River Road after receiving a tip-off. “The suspects were asked to surrender but they opened fire at the AEC officers,” said Khan. After the cross firing, all the suspects were arrested and two Kalashnikovs, one .222 rifle, one TT pistol and a Suzuki Khyber (Q-2814) were seized.

The SSP said that the arrested men were involved in several cases, including sectarian target killings, kidnapping for ransom and robberies.

During interrogation, they allegedly confessed to killing at least four men on sectarian basis: a Shia man in Sharae Noor Jehan, Barkat Ali, a peshimam in Godhra Camp, Mumtaz Qadri, and two Sunni Tehreek workers, Izzat Gul and Adnan Sheikh. According to Khan, Talha was also arrested by the Peshawar police for his involvement in a kidnapping-for-ransom case. Separately, the CID claimed to have arrested an absconder, Ghulam Rasool Khoso, from Chamra Chowrangi on Tuesday. The accused was wanted for two murder cases.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 1^st, 2011.