Malir City police arrest MQM-L militant trained by RAW

Police on Sunday claimed to have arrested a suspected militant of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-London (MQM-L) allegedly trained by Indian spy agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).

The arrest was made by the Malir City police. The suspect was identified as Shahzad, alias Khajji, alias Hazrat. According to police, he was affiliated with the MQM-L and trained by RAW, and was involved in more than 18 cases of murders.

Police claimed that the suspect had joined the MQM as a worker in Shah Faisal Colony Sector 104 in 1988 and later joined the Naeem Sharri group of the party in 1993. He along with his companions allegedly attacked and killed sub-inspector Aslam and police constable Ayub on October 17, 1994, and wounded DSP Mukhtar Ahmed Chaudhry.

He also reportedly confessed to killing policemen patrolling Raza Square in Gulshan-e-Iqbal, and six people in Moosa Colony after abducting them in 1995 over suspicion that they were police informants.

Police said the suspect first went underground during the Karachi operation in 1996 and then he was sent to South Africa by his party. According to police, he and another man were sent to New Delhi by their party in 2000 to receive training from RAW. He then returned to Karachi and resumed criminal activities, including attacks on political and religious figures in the city. Further investigations are under way.