Four Safoora bus massacre suspects remanded

Karachi
An anti-terrorism court on Thursday handed over four suspects of the Safoora bus attack to police on a 14-day physical remand.
The four suspects – Saad Aziz, Muhammad Azhar Ishrat, Haafiz Nasir, Tahir Hussain Minhas – were arrested for their alleged involvement in the Safoora bus attack in which over 45 Ismailis lost their lives.
The accused were taken to court under strict security where police asked the court for a 30-day remand. The suspects were presented in court for clashing with police and possesion of explosive material and illegal weapons.
The court remanded the suspects into police custody for 14 days for investigation and interrogation. According to the police, the four suspects have confessed to their involvement in a string of terrorist attacks in Karachi, including the deadly attack on the Ismaili community as well as the murder of T2F director Sabeen Mahmud.
Engineer, business graduates among accused
As per official claims, three of the four arrested terror suspects are highly-educated, with academic degrees from respected universities including the Institute of Business Administration (IBA) and Sir Syed University of Engineering and Technology (SSUET) in Karachi.
Officials maintain that Tahir Hussain Minhas (with aliases Sain Nazir, Zahid, Naveed, Khalil, Mota) is the least educated having only acquired a qualification of matriculation. Tahir was identified as the mastermind of the Safoora carnage. It was said that he had been engaged in terrorist activities since 1998, with bomb-making as an expertise.
Saad Aziz, with aliases Tin Tin and John, is a BBA degree holder from Institute of Business Administration Karachi. According to the police, he was the mastermind of the murder of NGO activist and head of social forum The Second Floor, Sabeen Mahmud in Karachi.
The third one, Muhammad Azhar Ishrat alias Majid, has a degree in Electronics Engineering from Sir Syed University and, according to police, has been involved in terrorist activities since 2011.
Hafiz Nasir alias Yasir has an MA degree in Islamic Studies from University of Karachi and has been said to be engaged in terrorist activities since 2013.
At a press conference on Wednesday, Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah said the four arrested suspects, besides killing 47 people of Ismaili community, were also involved in recent terror acts including Sabeen Mahmud’s murder, the attack on US academic Debra Lobo in the Ferozabad police area, bomb attacks on Naval officers in Karachi, and the suicide attack on Brigadier Basit of the Sindh Rangers in Karachi.