Ongoing operation: CID nabs five more alleged target killers

KARACHI:

The Crime Investigation Department has yet again nabbed five more alleged target killers.

This time the operation was conducted by the department’s Anti-Extremism Cell that is headed by SSP Chaudhry Aslam, whose house was bombed in DHA a week ago.

The five suspects Asif Khan, Mohammad Naveed, Mohammad Faisal, Mumtaz Ali and Rajab Ali were nabbed after an encounter in Shanti Nagar near Ittehad Town. At least two Kalashnikovs, five TT pistols and several rounds of ammunition were seized.

The CID says that the suspects were involved in at least four target killings in which five people were murdered. Suspect Asif Khan is alleged to have shot dead two still unidentified people in June within the jurisdiction of Kalri police station.

Suspect Naveed allegedly killed two brothers Abdul Aziz and Rasheed in Pak Colony in November 2010. He also murdered Mohammad Akbar and injured Abdul Qadir in August this year. The other suspects, Faisal, Mumtaz and Rajab are said to be accomplices and were booked in cases of a police encounter and for the possession of illegal weapons. Chaudhry Aslam’s cell arrested three suspects on September 10, just a week before his house was bombed.

Two of those suspects were Kamran Siddiq alias Nomi and Tariq, who were arrested in a raid in New Karachi Industrial Area, while another suspect, Akbar Ali, was apprehended from Pak Colony. As with the target killers nabbed on Friday, the political affiliations of these suspects were also not revealed.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 24^th,  2011.