Dead man walking: Arrest brings hitman for hire back from grave

Political parties deny having links to target killer who claims he jumped parties.

KARACHI:

For the authorities, suspected target killer Ayaz alias KK was a dead man, nothing more than a closed file – until he was arrested on Sunday.

Little did they know that KK and his family had committed insurance fraud and he was hiding out in Gulistan-e-Jauhar. For over a year he continued to work as a paid hitman, but was arrested on Sunday by the East Zone police after a tip-off.

They claimed that KK, one of the main suspects in the murder case of the Sindh chief minister’s pilot, was declared dead after FIR No. 27/11 was registered at the Pak Colony police station.

DSP Qamar Ahmed told The Express Tribune that KK and his family had planned to scam the insurance company. “He had paid the company around Rs155,000,” he said. “According to the policy, the family would have received Rs7.5million if he had died in an accident and Rs13.5 million if he had been murdered.”

After taking out an insurance policy, his mother went to the Gulshan-e-Maymar police station and complained that her son had been kidnapped. Fifteen days later, the family went to the Edhi morgue and claimed to have identified an unidentified body as his. “The insurance claim was being processed and the family would have received the money in a couple of days,” he said. “It is their bad luck and our good luck that he [KK] was caught before the money was handed over to the family.” He added that the police was also looking for the family as they had been part of the fraud.

Initial investigation

According to the officer, KK confessed to killing at least eight people, including the CM’s pilot, a young school teacher, and that he had participated in rioting around the city.

The pilot was identified as Maj. (retd) Mudassir Iqbal Kashmiri and he had worked in aviation since 1995. At the time of his murder, he was working at the Sindh Secretariat. He also flew a helicopter for the police department.

On January 14, 2011, the Awami National Party (ANP) had organised a strike and nearly two dozen people were killed that day. While in custody Sunday night, KK told DSP Ahmed that they had been ordered to wreak havoc in the city. Pilot Kashmiri was shot dead on his way home from the airport amid the chaos. He was driving a Suzuki Cultus when suspects opened fire at him. He was shot thrice in the head and chest.

“[KK] claims that they wanted to set the pilot’s car on fire,” said the DSP. “But when he didn’t stop [the car] they opened fire on him. They had no idea who the man inside the car was or who he worked for.”

DSP Ahmed said that KK told them he was first associated with the Mohajir Qaumi Movement-Haqiqi (MQM-H) and then went on to work for the ANP’s Liaquat Baloch and was currently working for the banned Peoples Amn Committee (PAC). All of these parties have denied this allegation.

“He confessed to have been involved in killing a young school teacher who rejected overtures from Liaquat Bangash,” said the DSP. “He claims to have been driving the car when Bangash shot the woman in April 2011.” He added that KK has also confessed to have stolen ammunition from men in the intelligence agencies at the airport.

Beyond party lines

The ANP, PAC and MQM-H have denied any links or having worked with KK. “We only have one ward in Gulistan-e-Jauhar and that is Pehlwan Goth. We do not know any party member or activist called Ayaz,” said the ANP spokesperson. “Our party has never asked any worker or supporter to disrupt the law and order situation in the city.”

PAC’s Zafar Baloch condemned the allegations made by the police and said that he had never heard of Ayaz or KK. “The police is just giving us bad publicity,” he said. “No one has ever heard of this man.”

MQM-H leader Khalid Hameed said that something was fishy. “On one hand the police say that this suspect was dead, and now they claim to have arrested him,” he said. “What is going on?”

with writing by tooba masood

Published in The Express Tribune, August 13^th, 2012.