CTD finds no evidence of SSP’s involvement in Intizar’s murder

SSP Muqaddas Haider may be exonerated from the Intizar Ahmed murder case as the investigation has established that he was not present at the crime scene, his weapon was not used in the killing and he had no connection with the victim or the girl in his car.

The 19-year-old boy was shot dead by Anti-Car Lifting Cell (ACLC) officials at Bara Bukhari Lane No 5, Khayaban-e-Ittehad, DHA Phase-VII on the night of January 13. The officials involved in the incident were deployed for the security of Haider, who was the ACLC’s chief at the time.

The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) had on Wednesday summoned Haider and Madiha Kayani, the girl who was with the victim at the time of the murder, to record their statements. CTD DIGP Amir Farooqi told The News that they were called in to ascertain if personal enmity was the motive for the murder. He said that before the victim’s father accused the two of involvement in the murder, the police were treating the incident as an accident.

Farooqi said the CTD had also retrieved the call detail records of Haider and Madiha and were now analysing them, adding that the SSP had denied that he knew Intizar or the girl. “SSP Haider told the investigators that he had deployed six teams in Defence to nab a gang of robbers who had stolen 40 vehicles from the locality in 2017, and said the ACLC men, who had killed Intizar, were part of the team deployed at Khayaban-e-Ittehad for arresting the robbers.”

Haider also said in his statement that the team deployed at Khayaban-e-Ittehad had spotted a car similar to the suspects’ vehicle and they had tried to intercept it. DIGP Farooqi said the CTD had verified Haider’s claims by checking the details of vehicle thefts in Defence and the forming of teams to arrest the gang involved.

“We have found that the ACLC men assigned to arrest the gang were not following standard operating procedure and if not all, then some of the team members should have worn police uniforms during picketing.”

Farooqi said the CTD was still investigating from the angle of personal enmity, adding that they had decided to include Intizar and Madiha’s mutual friends in the investigation and record their statements.

Responding to a question about Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Sindh police flags found in Intizar’s car, the CTD officer said that some of the victim’s friends were associated with the PPP and he often visited interior Sindh to meet them.

He said young men usually kept PPP and Sindh police flags in their car to avoid unnecessary hassle by the police. Earlier, the police had denied finding any kind of flags in the victim’s vehicle.

DIGP Farooqi said the forensic examination of the weapon used in the murder had established that SSP Haider’s personal weapon was not used in the incident, adding that ACLC policeman Bilal had used his personal 9mm pistol to shoot Intizar.

Farooqi said they had confirmed that Haider was not present at the crime scene as his alibi had checked out. Responding to another query, he said geofencing was not required as all the people present at the scene were in police custody.

Meanwhile, sources said SSP Haider had told the investigators that he had handed over six ACLC officials to the police on the day of the offence and two more the following day. Haider said that all the men had confessed to killing Intizar, but he was confused why his father was blaming him for the murder by accusing him of having links with Madiha, added the sources.

Meanwhile, Intizar’s father Ishtiaq Ahmed demanded on Wednesday that the police make the CCTV footage of the incident public. He told The News that he had visited the crime scene and observed that there was only one CCTV camera installed there.

He said he had contacted the CCTV camera’s owner, but he told him that the police had taken away the recording with them by claiming that some important data was saved on it. The father said the police had shown him only half the footage, but it was enough to prove his son was murdered. Casting doubts on Haider and Madiha’s innocence, he reiterated his demand that the police arrest both of them and interrogate them to ascertain their involvement in his son’s murder.

MQM-P seeks justice

A day after its press conference in which it sought an end to “state atrocities” to prevent campaigns like #FreeKarachi, two separate Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan delegations called on the families of Intizar Ahmed and Naqeebullah, the two Karachi youngsters who lost their lives in alleged extrajudicial killings by the police earlier this month.

The two delegations were led by the party’s deputy conveners and comprised senior leaders. Amir Khan, senior deputy convenor, Opposition Leader in Sindh Assembly Khawaja Izharul Hasan and coordination committee member Shabbir Qaimkhani visited Intizar’s family on Wednesday in Defence, while deputy convenor Kamran Tessori, MPA Faisal Sabzwari and coordination committee member Aminul Haque went to meet the father and relatives of Naqeeb at their protest camp in Sohrab Goth.