‘Ansarul Sharia may be responsible for Jauhar knife attacks’

The Ansarul Sharia Pakistan (ASP) may be responsible for the recent knife attacks on female citizens in Gulistan-e-Jauhar, an official of the country’s top security agency revealed to The News on Monday.

“The eight-member ASP is following in the footsteps of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan in order to divert the focus of the investigators cracking down on them.” Since September 25, six female citizens have been attacked in different localities of Gulistan-e-Jauhar, including Block-15, Block-12, Rabia City and Kamran Chowrangi. “Now the attackers are planning to target the areas of Mosamiat Chowrangi and Abul Hassan Isphahani Road to engage the investigators for a long time,” claimed the official.  

Police disagree

East Range DIGP Sultan Ali Khawaja told The News that the police did not suspect the involvement of terrorists in the knife attacks, adding that according to police interviews, all the survivors were “decently attired” at the time of the attacks.

“On September 30 the police released a picture of a suspect attacking a woman near Jauhar Chowrangi, but she was ‘properly dressed’ at that time. We have also released the video of another attack in Block-12.”

He argued that terrorists usually targeted women for wearing what they saw as “indecent”, and that the attacker was subjecting his targets to light injuries. “Police are giving priority to the case because of the public’s emotional association with it.”

Ectomorphs beware

Though the police have failed to arrest the attacker, they have started detaining suspects who bear a resemblance to him. The man caught on the CCTV footage seemed to be an ectomorph (a thin person).

Gulshan-e-Iqbal SP Ghulam Murtaza Bhutto told The News that the police had released pictures of the attacker, and that he had directed the local law enforcers to detain anyone who looked like him. “So far more than a dozen have been detained, and released after interrogation.” SP Bhutto said the police had asked the maintenance committees of the apartment buildings in the affected localities to keep an eye out for the suspect.  

No attack at KU

A police team visited the University of Karachi to validate reports of a knife attack on a woman on campus and met with Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Muhammad Ajmal Khan. In his statement, the KU spokesman rejected all reports.

SP Bhutto also rejected reports of a knife attack at the university, adding that a police team had visited KU only to verify if the reports were true. Meanwhile, the police have announced a reward of Rs500,000 for anyone with information that helps the law enforcers arrest the man involved in the knife attacks.