Sindh govt offers Rs2m for information on attackers of Lobo, Preedy SHO
PM Nawaz takes notice of attack on Lobo; orders speedy arrest of culprits responsible for the shooting
PHOTO: FILE
ISLAMABAD:
The Sindh government has announced a reward of Rs2 million for any information leading to the arrest of those involved in yesterday's attacks on US National and Vice Principal at Jinnah Medical and Dental College, Debra Lobo and SHO Preedy police station Aijaz Khawaja, Express News reported.
The names of those who provide information will not disclosed, while the evidence can be given to the provincial Home Department or any other law enforcement agency.
Earlier today, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif took notice of the attack on Lobo who was shot and critically injured on Shaheed-e-Millat Road on Thursday, Express News reported.
Further, the premier has also directed that the culprits responsible for the shooting be arrested immediately.
According to SSP Pir Muhammad Shah, the victim, identified as 55-year-old Debra Lobo, who is a vice-principal at Jinnah Medical and Dental College (JMDC), was shot at by four unidentified assailants on two motorcycles as she left the college to go home in her red Suzuki sedan.
Related: Targeted attack: Vice-principal of medical college shot and injured
Lobo was hit twice in her cheek and shoulder, following which she was taken to the Aga Khan University Hospital for treatment. Several hours later, the hospital’s spokesperson said that she was out of danger.
“The assailants left Islamic State flyers at the crime scene with messages in both English and Urdu, claiming that the attack was to avenge the killing of their five ‘mujahideen brothers’ in Keamari,” said SSP Shah, while talking to The Express Tribune.
Five suspected Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants, including their alleged commander in Karachi, were killed and two Rangers personnel were injured in a clash between security forces and miscreants in Keamari on April 8.
“I believe this is the first incident of its kind in Karachi where militants have claimed affiliation with the IS instead of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan or al Qaeda.”
SSP Shah added that the police will look into the matter to see if the IS was actually tapping support in the city or local militants used the leaflets as a ploy to spread fear.
Related: Call attention: Govt denies presence of ISIS in Karachi
Similar leaflets have been spotted all over the country in the last couple of months, especially in the northwest parts of the country along with pro-IS wall-chalking.
The leaflet, a copy of which is available with The Express Tribune, is titled ‘We will burn America’. It stated that the ‘lions’ who ‘killed this Kansas lady’ belonged to the Daulah Al-Islamiyyah, the Arabic name for the IS.
Lobo 'devoted to Pakistan'
Baqar Nawab, the administrator of Jinnah Medical and Dental College, where Lobo is assistant professor of community health, hailed what she has done since joining in 1996.
"She has a huge contribution towards the growth of this college," Nawab told AFP.
"We can never find her replacement and her contribution is immeasurable."
Nawab said Lobo, who is married to a Pakistani Christian, was hugely popular with students.
"We got a lot of calls from former students of the college who are now serving as doctors in America. They were all very much concerned about her," the administrator said.
Leaflets left at the scene of the shooting hinted at the involvement of militants linked to the Islamic State group, though they also claimed the attack as revenge for the death of suspected Al-Qaeda members in a police raid earlier in the week.
Nawab said Lobo had never been threatened and had completely integrated into the Pakistani way of life, adopting local dress and speaking Urdu fluently.
"She wears shalwar kameez, and she carries herself in the perfect way the local values call for," he said.
"She is more mistaken for a Pashtun or Central Asian lady rather than an American woman."
The Sindh government has announced a reward of Rs2 million for any information leading to the arrest of those involved in yesterday's attacks on US National and Vice Principal at Jinnah Medical and Dental College, Debra Lobo and SHO Preedy police station Aijaz Khawaja, Express News reported.
The names of those who provide information will not disclosed, while the evidence can be given to the provincial Home Department or any other law enforcement agency.
Earlier today, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif took notice of the attack on Lobo who was shot and critically injured on Shaheed-e-Millat Road on Thursday, Express News reported.
Further, the premier has also directed that the culprits responsible for the shooting be arrested immediately.
According to SSP Pir Muhammad Shah, the victim, identified as 55-year-old Debra Lobo, who is a vice-principal at Jinnah Medical and Dental College (JMDC), was shot at by four unidentified assailants on two motorcycles as she left the college to go home in her red Suzuki sedan.
Related: Targeted attack: Vice-principal of medical college shot and injured
Lobo was hit twice in her cheek and shoulder, following which she was taken to the Aga Khan University Hospital for treatment. Several hours later, the hospital’s spokesperson said that she was out of danger.
“The assailants left Islamic State flyers at the crime scene with messages in both English and Urdu, claiming that the attack was to avenge the killing of their five ‘mujahideen brothers’ in Keamari,” said SSP Shah, while talking to The Express Tribune.
Five suspected Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants, including their alleged commander in Karachi, were killed and two Rangers personnel were injured in a clash between security forces and miscreants in Keamari on April 8.
“I believe this is the first incident of its kind in Karachi where militants have claimed affiliation with the IS instead of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan or al Qaeda.”
SSP Shah added that the police will look into the matter to see if the IS was actually tapping support in the city or local militants used the leaflets as a ploy to spread fear.
Related: Call attention: Govt denies presence of ISIS in Karachi
Similar leaflets have been spotted all over the country in the last couple of months, especially in the northwest parts of the country along with pro-IS wall-chalking.
The leaflet, a copy of which is available with The Express Tribune, is titled ‘We will burn America’. It stated that the ‘lions’ who ‘killed this Kansas lady’ belonged to the Daulah Al-Islamiyyah, the Arabic name for the IS.
Lobo 'devoted to Pakistan'
Baqar Nawab, the administrator of Jinnah Medical and Dental College, where Lobo is assistant professor of community health, hailed what she has done since joining in 1996.
"She has a huge contribution towards the growth of this college," Nawab told AFP.
"We can never find her replacement and her contribution is immeasurable."
Nawab said Lobo, who is married to a Pakistani Christian, was hugely popular with students.
"We got a lot of calls from former students of the college who are now serving as doctors in America. They were all very much concerned about her," the administrator said.
Leaflets left at the scene of the shooting hinted at the involvement of militants linked to the Islamic State group, though they also claimed the attack as revenge for the death of suspected Al-Qaeda members in a police raid earlier in the week.
Nawab said Lobo had never been threatened and had completely integrated into the Pakistani way of life, adopting local dress and speaking Urdu fluently.
"She wears shalwar kameez, and she carries herself in the perfect way the local values call for," he said.
"She is more mistaken for a Pashtun or Central Asian lady rather than an American woman."