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Key suspect in murders of Shakeel Auj and Sibte Jafar arrested

Karachi A suspected target killer, believed to be responsible for the murder of two renowned educationists - Professor Dr Shakeel Auj of the University of Karachi and former principal of the Liaquatabad College Professor Sibte Jafar - has been arrested, police said on Wednesday. Police identified the suspect as Mohammad

By Salis bin Perwaiz
January 29, 2015
Karachi
A suspected target killer, believed to be responsible for the murder of two renowned educationists - Professor Dr Shakeel Auj of the University of Karachi and former principal of the Liaquatabad College Professor Sibte Jafar - has been arrested, police said on Wednesday.
Police identified the suspect as Mohammad Mansoor, a resident of Liaquatabad and an activist of a political party. Besides, he also works as a ward boy at the Sindh Government Hospital, Liaquatabad.
Professor Shakeel Auj was the dean of Islamic Studies at University of Karachi as well as the head of its Usool-e-Deen department and the Sheikh Zaid Islamic Centre
He was heading towards the Iranian Cultural Centre on the evening of September 18 last year, accompanied by Dr Tahir Masood, Dr Amina Afreen and Dr Jameel Bandhani, when some men fired gunshots at their vehicle near Shalimar Nursery on University Road in Gulshan-e-Iqbal.
Dr Auj suffered a bullet wound to the head and was taken to Aga Khan Hospital where he expired. Dr Afreen had also suffered bullet injuries.
Professor Sibte Jafar, besides being an educationist, was also known for his sozkhwani and marsia recitals and poetry. He was gunned down in Liaquatabad.
Additional IGP Karachi Ghulam Qadir Thebo told reporters that an investigation team was formed under the supervision of DIG East Munir Ahmed Sheikh to probe Dr Auj’s murder.
“The problem that we faced was that Dr Auj was an open-minded person and many people were against him,” the city’s police chief said.
Some people had also managed to have a fatwa issued against Dr Auj, compelling the educationist to lodge an FIR with the Mobina Town police station.
The investigation team arrested the people nominated by Dr Auj in the FIR and also questioned activists of banned outfit.
Thebo said they had questioned the KU faculty of Islamic studies dean Dr Abdul Rasheed, mass communication department chairman Dr Tahir Masood, Usool-e-Deen department chairman Dr Naseer Ahmed, Islamic learning department technical associate Dr Shakir Hussain, Islamic learning department associate professor Dr Ubaid Khan, Dr Ubaid Khan’s personal assistant Samee-uz-Zaman and Federal Urdu University director Dr Jameel Bandhani who was present in the vehicle at the time of the attack.
The official said while interrogating, the investigating team found out that one of the culprits responsible for Dr Auj’s murder was present in Liaquatabad. The police conducted a raid there and arrested Mansoor.
During interrogation, Mansoor disclosed that he, along with his associates Fahim Jabalpuri and Ehtasham, had killed Dr Auj. He also told the police that he was an activist of a political party.
On September 17 last year, Fahim Jabalpuri had visited Mansoor’s house in A-Area, Liaquatabad and told him to arrive at Aligarh University Road the next day.
On September 18 at about 8am, Mansoor went there on his motorcycle and met with Fahim Jabalpuri, Ehtasham and two others at the NIPA bridge in Gulshan-e-Iqbal.
Fahim instructed him to stand under the bridge and left with the other men. Later, he called Mansoor on his cell phone and told him to keep a check on the movement of Rangers and police.
On Fahim’s instructions, Mansoor headed towards the Baitul Muqaram Masjid and returned to the NIPA bridge. He informed Fahim that there were no police or Rangers in sight.
After 20 minutes, Mansoor heard gunshots and was instructed to escape. He went home and watched the news about Dr Auj’s murder on TV. The next morning, Fahim visited his house and when Mansoor asked him the reason for murdering the professor, he was told to “mind his own business”.
Thebo said Mansoor was also responsible for the murder of Dr Sibte Jafar. He added that Mansoor was involved in target killings in Karachi since 1993. In 1993, he had murdered three activists of a political party.