Targeted attack: Karachi ambush leaves DSP, two others dead

TTP claims responsibility for the deadly attack in Gulshan-e-Hadeed

KARACHI:

A senior police officer, his guard and driver were killed in a deadly ambush in the Gulshan-e-Hadeed neighbourhood of the metropolis on Friday. With the latest fatalities, the number of policemen killed so far this year has reached 46. The outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for the attack on Abdul Fateh Sangri, DSP Bin Qasim.

The police said DSP Sangri, along with his guard head constable Muhammad Farooq and driver constable Nazeer, was patrolling near Bata Morr in Gulshan-e-Hadeed when he came under attack.

According to eyewitnesses, four gunmen riding two motorcycles carried out the attack. They first flagged down DSP Sangri’s car and then opened fire from all four sides. DSP Sangri, his driver and guard received multiple bullets and died on the spot. The bodies were shifted to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for autopsies.

Medics said DSP Sangri was shot nine times while Farooq and Nazeer suffered eight bullets each. Police investigators collected at least 29 empty shells of 9mm pistols from the crime scene, where the Sindh police chief also arrived to inquire about the incident.

“The police department has lost three brave officers today,” said IGP Ghulam Hyder Jamali while talking to the media. “We are investigating the case from different angles,” he added. TTP spokesperson Muhammad Khorasani claimed credit for the deadly attack, saying DSP Sangri was number 37 on their hit-list.



The police believe the gunmen were trained for the job, as DSP Sangri was in plainclothes. The attackers also took away the official ammunition of the police guard while fleeing.

“The attack was carried out after proper monitoring,” said SSP East Pir Muhammad Shah, who has the additional charge of SSP Malir. “The DSP was killed along a route he used regularly, particularly for inspecting security arrangements at banks.”

Bin Qasim SHO Azhar Ali Iqbal said DSP Sangri had been posted to Bin Qasim three years ago. “He was an honourable man and did not participate in any operation ever. We are trying to ascertain who killed this innocent officer and why?”

Contrary to some media reports, Iqbal said the slain officer was not present at Rao Anwar’s explosive press conference a day earlier.

One of DSP Sangri’s brothers has retired as an additional inspector general while another brother is a serving SSP.

High-profile killings

This is the fourth high-profile targeted killing in recent days in Karachi. On April 16, Preedy SHO Aijaz Khawaja was killed on Korangi Road. On April 24, social activist Sabeen Mahmud was gunned down near the Defence Library and just six days later, Karachi University’s Assistant Professor Dr Syed Wahidur Rehman was shot dead in Federal B Area on April 30.

The police said the empties of the latest attack would be sent for forensic tests to determine if the same weapons had been used in the string of recent killings. Investigators are trying to draw the sketches of the attackers within the help of witnesses. The police and Rangers mounted a manhunt in Gulshan-e-Hadeed for the killers.

Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah has sought a report from the provincial police chief about the incident. The case has been registered under the anti-terrorism act at the Steel Town police station. Eighteen suspects were rounded up in a raid in Gulshan-e-Hadeed.


Published in The Express Tribune, May 2^nd, 2015.