Man held in connection with Shaheen Force cop’s killing

Sindh’s Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) on Saturday claimed to have arrested a man in connection with a double murder case, in which a police constable had also lost his life.

The CTD said in a statement that a man named Shakeel Ahmed had gone to a private bank in the Bara Board area of Pak Colony to withdraw cash on October 19.

Ahmed withdrew Rs4 million before leaving for work, but a few yards away from the bank, four men on two motorbikes attempted to rob him at gunpoint.

The victim tried to fight off the suspects, but he was shot by them. As the suspects were making their escape, Shaheen Force officials arrived on the scene and a shootout ensued.

PC Nihal was wounded in the exchange of fire, and the suspects fled with Rs400,000. Ahmed and the policemen later succumbed to their injuries during treatment.

During the investigation that followed, police went through the CCTV camera footage available and managed to locate one of the suspects in Orangi Town. They conducted a raid and arrested Zahid Ali Channa after some resistance.

Channa was taken to the investigation unit, where he told the police that he was inside the bank on October 19 to observe people making large withdrawals. He then tipped off his accomplices waiting outside the bank about Ahmed.

The suspect had been declared an absconder in several other cases. He had been arrested earlier but managed to get bail. He would be handed over to the local police for further action. The CTD had earlier also arrested suspect Gulzar Ali in connection with the case.

Impersonators held

Taking action on a tip-off, the Boat Basin police arrested five people who had been impersonating Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) employees and had stolen PTCL wires worth millions of rupees.

According to details, the five men had been stealing valuable wires by digging the ground in Block 2 of the Clifton neighbourhood. The Boat Basin SHO received confidential information about the gang’s activity.

Police immediately reached the spot and saw the suspects loading the stolen wire onto a truck. They arrested all five of them red-handed, as well as seized 36 copper wires of different lengths, and several shovels and wire cutters.

The suspects were identified as Imran, Azhar Wahab, Zafar, Amir Shahid and Abdul Rehman. According to the gang, they used to impersonate PTCL representatives to steal wires.

They told the police that they had done several similar robberies in the DHA and Clifton neighbourhoods. Cases have been registered against the suspects, while their previous criminal records are being checked.