Keeping watch: CID arrests four TTP men, target killer

SSP Aslam says the suspects were arrested from raids in Saeedabad and Manghopir.

KARACHI: Crime Investigation Department's (CID) Anti-Extremist Cell seemed to be quite active on Thursday: it claims it has arrested four men linked to Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and a target killer affiliated with a political party.

According to SSP Chaudhry Aslam, the criminals were arrested in separate raids in Manghophir and Saeedabad.

Four men belonging to the Qari Shakeel group - a splinter group of TTP - were arrested on Thursday afternoon from Manghophir Road. The criminals, Abdul Jabar aka Agha, Arif Nawaz, Raees Khan and Ismail, confessed they were involved in extortion, forcefully collecting hides of sacrificial animals and robbing as well as kidnapping people for ransom across the city. Law enforcers said the criminals were providing 'logistic support' to militants.

SSP Aslam said the money collected by the criminals was being sent to their leader, Qari Shakeel, who is based in the Mohmand Agency. The police seized a 9mm and 4 TT pistols along with ammunition from the suspects. The officers added the men were "extremely cunning" and more details about them would be divulged after further investigation.

The cell's officers also arrested a target killer, identified as 35-year-old Musheer Ahmed, from Saeedabad early Thursday morning. They claimed he belonged to a political party in Karachi, but did not name it.

The police seized a 9mm pistol from him. Since 2009, Ahmed has been involved in eight murders of which six have occurred this year. Most of them were driven by ethnicity. Ahmed has also been charged for a number of other incidents, including rioting.