Eyewitness identifies Safoora Goth suspects in attack on Bohra community

Tahir Minhas and Saad Aziz were allegedly involved in an attack on the Bohra community

KARACHI: An eyewitness picked out two suspects of the Safoora Goth massacre from an identification parade before a judicial magistrate on Friday for involvement in a bomb attack on a mosque of the Bohra community.

Tahir Hussain Minhas alias Saeen and Saad Aziz alias Tin Tin have been accused of involvement in a motorcycle-borne bomb blast outside Saleh Masjid in Arambagh while people were gathering there for Friday prayers on March 20. Two people lost their lives while a dozen others were wounded in the explosion.

Read: Witnesses identify Safoora attack suspects

Minhas and Aziz were presented before a South district judicial magistrate amid tight security for the identification parade. They were identified by a witness, whose identity was not disclosed. According to sources, the witness, who was among those injured in the incident, deposed that the suspects were seen at the site before the explosion.

The judge, after recording the witness' statement, sealed his report to send to the relevant anti-terrorism court, where it will serve as evidence during the trial. Meanwhile, the trial court, ATC-III, sent the suspects to prison till July 22, directing the investigation officer to submit a report at the next hearing.

Later, another ATC extended the physical remand of the same suspects and their accomplice, Asadur Rehman alias Malik, in the bus attack case by two more days. At least 47 Ismailis were gunned down when attackers boarded a community bus and opened fire at them in Safoora Goth on May 13.

Read: ATC extends Safoora attack suspects' remand

The suspects have also been implicated in a number of cases including the murder of The Second Floor director Sabeen Mahmud and the attack on American professor Debra Lobo.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 15^th, 2015.