CTD claims arrest of Sipah-e-Muhammad target killer

KARACHI: Sindh’s Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) on Monday announced the arrest of a notorious terrorist associated with the banned organisation Sipah-e-Muhammad for his involvement in a number of target killings. CTD chief DIG Omar Shahid Hamid said investigations regarding target killings and terrorist attacks were under way, during which an informant tipped off the investigating team that terrorists associated with a banned outfit and involved in a number of target killings were present in Karachi’s District Central.

Taking action on the information received, a raid was conducted near the Fateh Family Park in the Taimuria area. Seeing the police approach, the suspects opened fire on them, who launched a counterattack.

After an encounter, the officials arrested a suspect named Ammad Ali (aliases Hammad and Titu) with a 30-bore pistol and shifted him to the CTD headquarters for further investigation.

During the initial interrogation, the suspect disclosed that he had been associated with the Sipah-e-Muhammad for a long time, and that after the Abbas Town blast, he had joined the Farhat Abbas Zaidi team and remained involved in sectarian killings.

He also disclosed that during 2012, he and others had attacked a hotel near Madrasa Binori Town in Gulshan. Their firing had killed four Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) activists — Umair, Abdul Shakoor, Muhammad Imran and Ansar — while injured two others. A case was registered by the Mobina Town police station.

During the same year the suspect had also targeted the ASWJ’s Salahuddin near Peoples Chowrangi in Taimuria. He and others had targeted the Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan’s (SSP) Muhammad Atif inside a sweets shop in the Rizvia police jurisdiction.

Moreover, the suspect and his accomplices had also targeted a prayer leader associated with the SSP near Peoples Chowrangi while he was riding a bicycle. The CTD chief said the suspect had been arrested earlier in cases of murder, police encounter and possession of illegal weapons by the Samanabad and Taimuria police stations, and he was also jailed. He was also declared an absconder by court and the police.