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Thursday March 28, 2024

Eyebrows raised at police scrutiny after suspected SRA facilitator turns out to be cop

By Faraz Khan
June 19, 2022

Eyebrows have been raised at the recruitment and scrutiny policies of the police department as the alleged key facilitator of the recent Kharadar and Saddar bombings has turned out to be a policeman deployed at the police unit dealing with security for sensitive installations.

The suspect, Dilbar Ali, was arrested a few days ago. The CTD said he had acted as a facilitator of the Sindhudesh Revolutionary Army (SRA) in the back-to-back Kharadar and Saddar bombings last month. Dilbar is now in the CTD custody on physical remand till June 23.

The police high-ups believe that he can provide key information for dismantling the terrorist organisation’s network in the city.

“Besides Kharadar and Saddar bombings, we are also investigating his possible involvement in other terrorism acts in Karachi and other parts of Sindh but nothing could be said conclusively as the investigations are at the preliminary level,” said CTD senior official Mazhar Mashwani as he spoke to The News.

Dilbar was posted at one of the most important units of the Sindh police – Rapid Response Force. He was arrested for his alleged links with the terrorist SRA. Interestingly, he had also been arrested in the past in Larkana but was released shortly after the arrest due to lack of evidence.

The RRF is one of the most sensitive units of the Sindh police as its commandoes provide security to sensitive installations as well as important personalities. If the allegations against the arrested cop are true that he had been facilitating terror activities, this raises serious concerns over the scrutiny procedures of the police department.

“We are also trying to find out how he was recruited in the police department and when he joined the SRA. Also we are looking into how he managed to get released after he was arrested in rural Sindh for having links with the SRA,” said a senior official who requested anonymity.

Earlier on Friday, the CTD had issued a press release regarding the arrests of two militants of the SRA, Sarmad Ali and Sanaullah, over their possible involvement in the Saddar and Kharadar blasts. The press release had also mentioned Dilbar’s name as a facilitator of the SRA. He was also accused of killing the brother of a government official in Larkana.

On May 12, an IED explosion on a road in the Saddar area had left a teenage boy dead and injured nine others. Within a week after that blast, another similar explosion took place on May 16 in the Boulton Market area in Kharadar, resulting in the death of a woman and injuries to 11 others.

The SRA claimed the responsibility for both the explosions. On May 17, the CTD claimed to have killed two suspected militants belonging to the SRA during a raid on their hideout in the Mauripur area.

In the Saddar blast, the explosive device had been planted on a bicycle. Using footage from a CCTV camera located in the area, police identified a man who was sitting nearby and seemed to have triggered the explosive device. Mashwani said the man was named Allah Dino and he was one of the two suspects killed on May 17.

The other suspect killed during the raid was identified as Nawab. The CTD said there were two more terrorists hiding there who managed to flee.