Headshots prove trained professionals behind Dhoraji attack: CTD official

A senior official of Sindh’s Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) said on Sunday that the attack on police officials in Karachi’s New Town in the wee hours was carried out by trained professionals.

Hitherto unidentified suspects had gunned down two policemen, including an assistant sub-inspector (ASI), and injured another near the Daud cut in the town’s Dhoraji locality.

ASI Mohammad Iftikhar and head constable Raja Younus died while HC Shahenshah was critically wounded in the attack as the officials were engaged in security duty in the area.

While the policemen were checking oncoming vehicles, two men on a motorcycle fired at the officials. The three injured law enforcers were rushed to the Aga Khan University Hospital, where ASI Iftikhar and HC Younus succumbed to their wounds.

The attackers had used 9mm and 30-bore pistols in the attack and hit the policemen in the head. Police have seized the weapons from the scene of the crime and sent them to the forensic division of the Sindh police. The FIR of the incident was lodged at the CTD Sindh police station.

Raja Umer Khattab, chief of the CTD’s Transnational Terrorist Intelligence Group, told The News that the targeted attack was carried out by trained professionals, as they had aimed for the policemen’s heads.

He said the investigation of the crime scene revealed that the ASI was standing near the police mobile while the HCs were standing guard at the front when the two motorcyclists targeted them.

He added that no CCTV camera was installed at any nearby location so it was premature to confirm the appearance of the assailants, but the forensic examination of the spent bullet shells had confirmed that one of the weapons was used to attack a security guard of the Police Foundation in Gulistan-e-Jauhar in February.

Khattab said it was too early to confirm the involvement of a group, especially the claim of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi al Almi because there were no footprints of the banned group anywhere in the city.

He added, however, that a sleeper cell of al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent or of a Daesh-inspired group might be behind the attack.

Funeral prayers

The funeral prayers of ASI Iftikhar and HC Younus were offered at the Police Headquarters in Garden (South). A contingent of the special police force presented the guard of honour to the slain policemen and laid wreaths over their coffins.

Sindh police chief IGP AD Khowaja, Karachi police chief Addl IGP Mushtaq Mahar, CTD Sindh chief Addl IGP Dr Sanaullah Abbasi, representatives of the Sindh Rangers, zonal DIGs, colleagues and family members of the slain policemen attended the funeral in large numbers.

Paying tributes to the two officials, IGP Khowaja said that there could never be any adequate compensation for a human life, but the bereaved families would be provided with every support in accordance with the rules and regulations of the police department.

He made the assurance that the men behind the attack would be arrested soon, and announced Rs5 million each for the families of the slain police officials. The ASI’s body was later flown to his hometown in Faisalabad.