Police bus attack: Chakra Goth case suspect held

CID says Sikander is affiliated with a political party.

KARACHI: The Crime Investigation Department nabbed a suspect on Thursday, who was allegedly involved in the Chakra goth case.

Three policemen belonging to the Sindh Reserve police force were killed and 27 others, including DSP Syed Badar Ali Shah, were injured on August 19 when their bus came under attack as it headed towards Korangi’s Chakra Goth to control a clash between two heavily armed groups.

According to CID SSP Fayyaz Khan, the suspect, Sikander alias Ali, is affiliated with a major political party and was one of the main absconding accused in the case. He was nabbed after an encounter with a police team in Korangi on Thursday.

The suspect was also named as a fugitive in the First Information Report, No. 435/2011, lodged  at the Zaman Town police station.

There have been quite a few highs and lows in the Chakra Goth case already. The police suffered a setback when a judge released two main suspects Omair Atif and Abdul Hakeem on the grounds that there was insufficient evidence against them.

After the two suspects were released, a police inquiry conducted by SSP Niaz Ahmed Khosa found five officers, including the SHO of the Zaman Town police station, Inspector Shakir Ali, complainant Sub-Inspector Muhammad Hanif Abbasi and investigation officer Suhail Ahmed responsible for damaging the case. Recommendations were also made that they should be prosecuted under the anti-terrorism law for their criminal negligence.

However, the police managed to secure the remand of other two suspects in the case, the notorious hitmen Kamran Madhuri and Sohail Commando, who also belong to a major political party.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 23^rd,  2011.