Police nab ‘hitman’ involved in killing four religious scholars

KARACHI: The city’s West Zone police arrested a suspect allegedly involved in the killing of four religious scholars of Deobandi school of thought including Mufti Shamzai, Karachi-West DIG Feroze Shah said on Sunday.

Shah said that the suspect Wasi Haider has been involved in 12 incidents of targeted killings, including four religious scholars.

“The victims included Mufti Shamzai killed in 2004 and Maulana Abdul Majeed, Mufti Salih Mohammed and Maulana Ihsan who were killed in an armed attack on a van in January 2013,” he added.

The officer said that the police party, acting on a tip off, detained Haider from F.B. Industrial Area of of the metropolis.

“The detained suspect is a resident of Lines Area and belongs to a political party,” said the DIG West.

His four accomplices were absconders.

Two 'gang-members' killed during Rangers raid in Lyari

Earlier, two 'criminals' allegedly linked with the Uzair Baloch group, operating in Karachi's Old Golimar Area, were killed by Rangers in an exchange of fire in the early hours of the day.

The 'gangsters' were identified as Adnan Baloch and Sajid Ganga, who were wanted for a number of target killings, kidnapping for ransom and "other vicious crimes", according to a Rangers press release.

Rangers also claimed the recovery of weapons and ammunition from their possession.

An intelligence-based targeted operation had been conducted on the suspected hideouts of gang war criminals in Lyari Town, a Rangers press release said.

The suspects snuck into a hideout located at Adam Tea Store around 2:30am, in efforts to evade arrest and flee, after opening indiscriminate fire at the Rangers troops, the press release further said.

"The Rangers retaliated effectively, killing two of them while others escaped, seeking cover of darkness and narrow streets," the press release said.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Friday said that the ongoing operation against criminals in Karachi would be taken to its logical conclusion, Dawn newspaper earlier reported.

"The miscreants now are carrying out cowardly attacks as a last resort but are destined to be defeated ultimately," he said.

According to a performance report on the ongoing Karachi operation prepared by the Sindh home department, police had recorded 935 shootings against criminal gangs and individuals by the end of July, which are 66 more than the 869 encounters last year, Dawn newspaper reported in August.

A total of 596 gangs have been busted – 118 more than the 478 gangs eliminated last year, while 386 ‘criminals’ have been ‘neutralised’ – 125 more than the alleged criminals gunned down in 2014.