Police arrest 2 men planning to kill doctors, Shias

One of the arrested men is a repeat offender out on bail from jail, was in jail from 2003 to 2007 before bail.

KARACHI: The police have arrested two men on suspicion of being involved in the killings of doctors and Shia scholars. One of them is a repeat offender out on bail from jail.

In his first press conference since assuming office, chief of police Fayyaz Leghari announced that the men were caught in Orangi Town. “[One of them] was leading a group of terrorists and was not only involved in the target killings of doctors and Shia scholars but had also planned to attack Ahmedi places of worship,” said the CCPO at a press conference at the Central Police Office on Sunday.

The media had earlier reported that the arrests took place early Friday. The police have denied this.

The police identified the men as Naseem Haider alias ‘Firon’ and Asif Rasheed alias ‘Dunba’ and said they were related to the banned militant Lashkar-e-Jhangvi outfit.

They were booked in the murder cases of Maulana Ghulam Muhammad and Muhammad Hussain, for killing Dr Najm-ul-Hasan on Aug 17, Dr Syed Mehtab Hussain and a Shia man named Sheraz in March this year.

Leghari said that the pair had revealed during questioning that they had planned to attack Ahmedi sites before the by-elections in Orangi Town. An informer had tipped the police off that the men were on their way to Saleemabad to target another doctor. A team was dispatched. It found the men on a motorcycle (No KBP 8591) and flagged them down. “They did not stop and instead opened fire on the police who retaliated and arrested them,” said SP Khurram Waris, who headed the operation. The police claimed to have seized one Kalashinkov and two TT pistols from their possession.

This is not the first time that Naseem was arrested. He was in jail from 2003 to 2007 but was released on bail in all of the cases against him.

CCPO Leghari said that people involved in such crimes do not stop working for their organizations even after they are imprisoned and then released. “They do whatever they were doing before imprisonment,” he said, adding that his department was working in close collaboration with the registrar of the high court to ensure such criminals get justice.

“We are holding meetings on a monthly basis,” he said.

Target killing investigations

The CCPO said that they have divided target killings into four categories: Sectarian killings, ethnic killings, political killings and random killings. “The CID is looking after the sectarian target killings,” he said.

The department has appointed focal persons to investigate the other types of killings. So far this year, the CPO has recorded a total of 230 target killing and out them, according to Leghari, there have been arrests in 32 cases.

Shrine attack

The CCPO came to the press conference well prepared. He knew that the media would ask questions related to the Abdullah Shah Ghazi shrine attack and other law and order matters. He had a grey file in his left hand and whenever someone asked him a question, he would take out the relevant colour-coded paper to answer.

“We have found some clues and with their help will soon identify the suicide bombers,” he said. He denied, however, that the perpetrators of the attack would benefit if any information leaked out.

Orangi town by-election

The chief of police said that the police have planned security for the Oct 17 by-election in Orangi Town. This seat fell vacant after Muttahida Qaumi Movement MPA Raza Haider was murdered. “We have divided the constituency into eight zones,” said the CCPO, adding that a detailed plan would later be issued to the media.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 11^th, 2010.