CTD announces arrest of two suspects involved in Chinese national’s murder

The Sindh Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) has claimed to have arrested two suspects involved in the murder of a Chinese national in the city’s Zamzama area in February.

Addressing a press briefing on Monday, Karachi CTD Deputy Inspector General Saqib Ismail Memon said that unidentified armed men had targeted a vehicle carrying two Chinese nationals near Zamzama Park on February 5. Chin Zhu died in the firing, while his friend sustained injuries and the attackers fled the scene.

The case investigation was later transferred to the CTD’s Transnational Terrorists Intelligence Group (TTIG) chief Raja Umer Khattab, said Memon. Khattab told reporters that with the help of footage from 47 CCTV cameras, they checked for the movements of the suspects across the city and found that they were driving a white car with a fake number plate. The investigators also found that the suspects were already present at a nearby restaurant where Zhu and his friend came for lunch, and opened fire at the two foreigners after they walked out of the restaurant.

According to Khattab, Zhu had been associated with Cosco Saeed Shipping, a private company not associated with the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, as its managing director since February 2017.

The investigators further found that Zhu’s appointment had been made by the government of Pakistan and that he was an honest and trustworthy person. Khattab said that after joining Cosco, Zhu had made several changes and fired those who were not contributing to the company. He also reportedly found corruption in company transactions and started to implement the company’s law strictly.

The TTIG chief said Zhu’s initiatives caused a loss to a local partner of the company who owned some 30 per cent shares, and differences occurred between the partners. Moreover, Zhu had also dismissed three sons of a local partner who had been drawing large salaries.

According to Khattab, these continuous conflicts with Zhu and the fear of future losses infuriated some partners and former employees, who then conspired to kill him by hiring an assassin.

He said that the investigators found discrepancies in the statements that they had taken from company owners and partners. Moreover, by probing the statement and cell phone records of Saqib, the son Shakeel, an owner in the company, and Rehan Hashim, a former employee, officials found some suitable leads and registered an FIR in which they nominated Saqib and Rehan based on suspicion. However, the two went into hiding after the FIR was registered.

Khattab further told reporters that on May 5, they received a tip-off that the two suspects named in the FIR were hiding in Hyderabad Range. Sindh CTD then conducted a raid, arrested the two and shifted them to its headquarters. He added a Joint Investigation Team has been formed to flesh out further leads in the case and to identify the assassins, whose sketch has already been drawn up.

The officials declared a Rs2 million reward on any information leading to their arrests, and concluded that Zhu’s murder was not terrorism but a pre-meditated murder based on personal differences.