New footage helps make headway in cleric’s murder

Police have found more footage that provides greater insight into the modus operandi of the attackers who murdered prominent cleric Maulana Dr Adil Khan and his driver in Karachi on Saturday and there is also evidence that suggests the involvement of two neighbouring countries in the incident.

The investigators also believe that the group which murdered Maulana Adil could have been the same one that tried to assassinate another religious scholar, Mufti Taqi Usmani, in March last year.

Police sources said the new footage had revealed that a man riding a motorcycle with a black helmet on was following the cleric’s vehicle. He has been identified as the same person who helped the other two men, who fired gunshots at the cleric’s vehicle, escape from the scene.

Maulana Adil’s vehicle was being followed after he left Darul Uloom Korangi at 7:20pm after offering Maghreb prayers. The attack took place at 7:40pm.

The ballistic report of the five bullet shells found at the crime scene has revealed that there was no previous record of the weapon used in the attack.

The police investigators visited Darul Uloom Korangi where they acquired CCTV footage and also recorded the statement of the security guard there.

The security guard told them that the cleric reached Darul Uloom Korangi, offered Maghreb prayers, and then met Mufti Taqi Usmani before leaving.

Fresh footage from the crime scene shows that Maulana Adil’s driver stepped out of the vehicle to clean the windscreen. At that moment, two suspicious men are seen at the rear of the vehicle and are believed to be the attackers. The driver then returns to his seat. Then one man comes up to the vehicle from behind and opens fire at the driver and the cleric.

Some witnesses also told the investigators that two of the three attackers who fled the scene got off the motorcycle some distance away and left in a car that was already waiting for them. However, the investigators have yet to confirm this information.

Geo-fencing of the crime scene has also allowed the police to pinpoint some vehicles with suspicious number plates.

According to sources in the Counter-Terrorism Department, there is some evidence that suggests the involvement of two neighbouring countries in the attack. They also said that the same group that tried to assassinate Mufti Taqi Usmani could be responsible for Maulana Adil’s murder. However, they added, it was too early to confirm this at this stage of investigation.

The funeral prayer for Maulana Adil was offered at the Jamia Farooqia, Hub River Road on Sunday.

The cleric’s funeral prayer was led by his elder brother Maulana Obaidullah Khalid.

Well-known religious scholars including Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani, Mufti Muhammad Rafi Usmani, Maulana Hanif Jalandhari, Senator Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, Maulana Rashid Soomro, Jamia Banuria Mufti Noman and Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman were in attendance.

The cleric was buried in the vicinity of his father Maulana Saleemullah Khan’s grave in Jamia Farooqia.

Maulana Adil was the administrator of Karachi’s Jamia Farooqia seminary

He was also a central official of the Wafaqul Madaris Ul Arabiya Pakistan, the head of the Karachi Ulema Committee and a teacher at Darul Uloom Karachi.