Widening the net: Karachi operation’s focus turns to militant outfits

Officials say agencies increase scope following the assassination of SP Chaudhry Aslam.

KARACHI:

An operation against target killers, extortionists and other anti-state elements by law enforcement agencies has turned its focus to banned militant outfits following the suicide attack that killed SP Chaudhry Aslam Khan and his colleagues on Thursday, The Express Tribune has learnt.

“Right now, we want to nab the killers of Shaheed Chaudhry Aslam. These elements are a serious threat to law and order in the city,” said a senior police officer on the condition of anonymity.

On Sunday, evidence collected from the crime scene was sent to Islamabad for forensic examinations while law enforcement agencies have also investigated employees of SP Aslam at his home and office. “We have interrogated his guards as part of an investigation into his death,” the officer added.



Following the investigation, Rangers personnel conducted a targeted operation in the city’s Essa Nagri neighborhood and arrested 12 suspects, recovering a cache of ammunition from their possession. Operations were also conducted in other areas, particularly those dominated by Pushtun residents, including Qasba Colony, Gul Goth, Al Asif Square, Chakra Goth, Mehran Town, Bakhtawar Goth, Gulshan-e-Ghazi, Pirabad, Manghopir, Orangi Town, Dalmia and Shantinagar.

Forty-eight suspects were arrested during the operation, a Rangers official said. “We have found some clues and evidence that enhanced the radius of operation around different parts of the city,” he added. Several submachine guns, rifles and TT pistols were recovered during the raids and suspects have been held at an undisclosed location, he said.

During the search operation in Qasba Colony, where Naeemullah, the suspected suicide bomber in the Aslam case, was said to reside, a large number of people took to the streets and pelted the passing vehicles with stones. “Law enforcement agencies arrested innocent people following news of Naeemullah’s involvement,” said one of the protesters.

Sindh police also conducted raids in search of those involved in the attack, arresting 95 suspects.

SP Khan and two comrades were killed on January 9 when a suspected suicide bomber, later identified as Naeemullah Siddiqui, rammed a vehicle packed with explosives into the SP’s vehicle on the Lyari Expressway near Essa Nagri.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 13^th, 2014.