In Karachi, police arrest six alleged terrorists involved in over 50 targeted killings

Arrests were made on charges of targeted killings, detainees said to be linked with banned outfits

KARACHI: The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) police claimed to have arrested six alleged terrorists affiliated with banned outfit Sipah-e-Muhammad, the armed wing of the banned organisation Tehreek-e-Jaffria. One of these suspects was a serving police constable while three of them were listed in the red book of police's most wanted terrorists. According to police, the detainees are responsible for more than 50 targeted killings from 2003 till 2019. A huge cache of arms were seized from their possession.

In pursuit

Addressing a press conference on Monday, CTD DIG Abdullah Sheikh said they had conducted a raid on March 29, 2019, in Allah Bakhsh Goth near Ahsanabad at a time when terrorists of the banned organisation were present along with their colluders. An encounter ensued between the terrorists and the police during which the armoured vehicle of the police was damaged but the suspects managed to flee, said the DIG, adding that the suspects left behind some of their belongings.

Sheikh said that the CTD police filed case number 75/2019 against the suspects and continued their pursuit.

Acting on a tip-off, the CTD police carried out another raid in pursuit of the suspects. The six alleged terrorists were arrested near Business Recorder Road while they were on the road in a car and on a motorcycle, on the charges of targeted sectarian killings.

The detainees who include a serving police constable, were identified as Muhammad Haider alias Bacha, Syed Mehtab Hussain Naqvi alias Machar alias Bala, Gul Akbar alias Abdullah, Asif Raza alias Khalid, Kamran alias Pathan, and serving police head constable Syed Haider Abbas Rizvi alias police wala who was posted at Garden Headquarter in the South district.

Three Kalashnikovs, two 9MM pistols, one 30-bore pistol, two motorcycles and a large cache of bullets were recovered from them, said the DIG.

Hardened criminals

According to the DIG, Muhammad alias Bacha, Syed Mehtab Hussain Naqvi and Gul Akbar alias Abdullah were listed in the police's red book of most wanted terrorists. Muhammad Haider alias Bacha and Syed Mehtab Hussain Naqvi are the heads of this gang of target killers, said DIG Sheikh.

The CTD DIG told the press conference that the alleged terrorists have made startling revelations during the initial investigation. He said that the detainees have admitted that they were trained in a foreign country and received weapons, motorcycles and financial aid through an organised network.

The target killers were paid a monthly salary of Rs40,000 while those who carried out reconnaissance were paid Rs20,000 per month. The DIG said that the apprehended group's leader received financial help from a foreign country through a man named Syed Waseem Ahsan Naqvi alias Shahid alias Kashif who in turn is assisted by another man named Zahoor Mehdi alias Sohail.

According to the DIG, the suspects carried out sporadic terrorist activities from 2003 till 2019. They carried out targeted killings of more than 50 people on sectarian grounds.



DIG Sheikh said that the detainees have admitted to having been involved in the attack on Maulana Aurangzeb Farooqi in which four police officials and two gunmen of the maulana had also come under attack. They confessed to the attack carried out on Advocate Maulana Ahmed Baksh and his guard, the target killings of doctors, murders of two persons - a nephew and an uncle in Shah Faisal Colony, the murders of three workers of Sipah-e-Sahaba in the limits of Mobina Town Police Station, the murders of three brothers at Nagori Milk Shop near Darul Uloom Korangi, murders of two Sipah-e-Sahaba workers near Nagan Chowrangi and the murder of a fruit vendor belonging to Sipah-e-Sahaba organisation near Yousuf Plaza, and other incidents.

The DIG informed that there were 31 cases registered against the arrested suspects and a joint-investigation team was being formed for further investigation.



Responding to a question, the DIG said that the arrested gang was not linked to the attack on Maulana Taqi Usmani and the investigation regarding that incident was under way. He added that the media would be informed if any progress was made.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 16^th, 2019.