Investigators in a fix as ‘Ansarul Sharia kills three of their own’

Investigators were left in a fix on Monday after bodies of three Ansarul Sharia Pakistan (ASP) men along with a handbill of the banned terrorist organisation were found from Northern Bypass near the site where two police volunteers were martyred last Thursday in an attack claimed by the organisation.

Introducing himself as the real ASP’s spokesperson, the pamphlet was addressed by Dr Abdullah Hashmi. It stated that the three were killed for using the organisation’s name to kill policemen and other law enforcement agencies’ personnel.

The spokesman maintained that the dead men were associated with a group that had ‘sold its faith to infidels and foreign forces’. Members of the dissenting group were threatened to ‘return to the right path’ or either them or their families will pay back for the death of every security personnel they kill.

Confessing killing the three men, the Ansar-ul-Sharia spokesperson referred to his faction as the ‘real Mujahideen’. SP Gadap Town Chaudhry Saifullah said the bodies were found by SITE Super Highway police station’s men while patrolling the area at around 7:00am.

It appeared that the men were killed two to three hours before the police reached the site, the SP added.  SP Saifullah said all the victims appeared to be over 30 years of age; one was dressed in a black shalwar kameez, the other in a brown one, while the third wore a yellow kameez and a white shalwar. 

SITE Super Highway police station’s SHO Anaar Khan said an FIR was registered on behalf of the state against the culprits. Khan added that the police did not recover any evidence from the spot; however, they suspected that the men were shot dead somewhere else and their bodies dumped near the police post.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Malir Rao Anwaar told The News that the police post was currently being reconstructed after the August 17 attack on two police volunteers. “Hence, the post was empty,” the SSP said, adding, that, “The construction work is carried out in the day and the post remains empty at night time.”

SSP Anwaar said the killers took advantage of the darkness and dumped the bodies during wee hours of Monday morning. He added that identities of the deceased were yet to be ascertained and that finger prints of the deceased had been sent to the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) for identification.     

A police volunteer died while another sustained bullet injuries after a check-post they were stationed at was attacked by terrorists. The ASP handbill found that day from near the bodies claimed the policemen were killed for extorting the public.   

However, Monday’s handbill gave way to a debate over which one of the two was the ‘real’ Ansar-ul-Sharia Pakistan. SSP Rao Anwaar suspected that a group of terrorists associated with the terrorist organisation parted ways with it over its policy of killing policemen and formed a separate group.  

Raja Umar Khattab, in-charge Transnational Terrorist Intelligence group of the Counter Terrorism Department, excused himself from commenting on the incident claiming that he hadn’t yet had a chance to investigate the matter since he was busy in another operation.