Rangers claim MQM-London death squad behind recent attacks on political leaders, workers

The Rangers on Monday claimed to have made a major breakthrough in the investigations regarding the fresh wave of violent incidents against political leaders and workers in Karachi as they arrested eight members of a political party’s ‘death squad’.

The provincial capital, which had remained relatively much peaceful during the last five years after the start of the Karachi operation, has witnessed a surge in political violence and terrorist incidents since the last three months as several incidents of target killings have been reported while offices of political parties have also been attacked by heavily armed men.

Rangers officials claimed that the paramilitary force arrested eight suspects affiliated with the international secretariat of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-London (MQM-L) during separate raids in parts of the city. The suspects were identified as Syed Raza Ali, Mohsin Ali, Rehman, alias Shahrukh, Shaheryar, alias Sherry, Zameeruddin, Syed Waqas, Tanzeem and Anisur Rehman.

According to the paramilitary force, seven members of the dead squad are still at large who include Muhammad Saleem, alias Saleem Belgium, Junaid, alias Joni, Asif, alias Pasha, alias Major, Sajjad Chaudhry, Kashif, Naeem and Azam.

The arrests were disclosed during a press conference held at the Pakistan Rangers Sindh Headquarters on Monday evening where a Rangers officer, Colonel Faisal Awan, told media persons that Saleem Belgium is the mastermind of the recent political violence in Karachi.

“Saleem aka Belgium had set up the squad on the directives of MQM-London chief Altaf Hussain while Asif alias Pasha, who had served as incharge of the MQM Defence and Clifton sector in the past, is the incharge of the death squad in Karachi,” Colonel Awan explained. “Enemies of the state were destroying Pakistan's peace and prosperity. MQM-L’s chief Altaf Hussain in his recent statement had also forced his workers to kill the political rivals in Karachi.”

Asif Pasha formed the squad on the directives of Altaf in November 2018 and he held a meeting with Saleem Belgium in this regard in Dubai last year, the officer explained, adding that the arrested suspects had confessed that Saleem Belgium formed their team to kill political rivals, particularly those belonging to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP).

Saleem Belgium, who once lived in North Karachi Sector 7D2, is accused of his involvement in dozens of target killing cases, including those of policemen, and an attack at the Police Headquarters, Garden. He was arrested in 2011 by the Rangers but after facing trials, he escaped abroad and reportedly started to supervise miscreants affiliated with the MQM-L, living in South Africa and Belgium.

“They [the death squad] conducted three major terror activities in Karachi, including an improvised explosive device [IED] explosion during a Mehfil-e-Milad organised by the MQM-P in Gulistan-e-Jauhar and attacks on the offices of the PSP in the Rizvia [Society] area and MQM-P in New Karachi,” Colonel Awan maintained. He informed media persons that the arrested MQM-L workers also intended to carry out at least two more IED attacks in Karachi.

“They had prepared two IEDs to target former MNA Farooq Sattar and the MQM-P’s protest staged outside the Karachi Press Club after the attack on the party office in New Karachi but fortunately, they were unable to do so because of tightened security measures.”

The Rangers troops had seized the two IEDs which had also been defused, Colonel Awan claimed. The leadership of both the MQM-P and PSP were on the target of the death squad, he added.

According to the Rangers officer, investigators of the paramilitary force had enough evidence to prove the arrested suspects guilty. The evidence included “their voice recordings, recovery of the IEDS, weapons, confessions and forensics of the weapons recovered from their possession”, he explained. “The empties of the 30bore pistols, 9mm pistols and Kalashnikov used in the three cases have also matched.”

Colonel Awan said the suspects communicated with each other through WhatsApp instead of using mobile phone SIM cards, and they were provided weapons and finances by Saleem Belgium. The officer also played multiple recorded Whatsapp calls in which the suspects were discussing their plans, including terrorist activities involving code words like 'boxes' for IEDs, 'Aalu' for hand grenade and 'cassette' for pistol.

Talking about the killing of former MQM-P leader Ali Raza Abidi and other incidents of political and sectarian violence, Colonel Awan said investigators of the Rangers, intelligence agencies, police and Counter-Terrorism Department were doing their best to solve those cases.

The first of the three major cases in which the MQM-L death squad was allegedly involved took place on December 9, 2018 in Gulistan-e-Jauhar where at least six people were injured due to an IED blast at a Milad organised by the MQM-P. MQM-P leaders Khalid Maqbool Ahmed and Khawaja Izharul Hassan were also present on the site and narrowly escaped.

The second incident took place on December 23 last year when about a dozen armed men, riding on six motorcycles, attacked the town office of the PSP in Usmania Colony in the Rizvia Society area that left two workers, Azhar Rehmat, 35, and Naeem Ramzan, 40, dead and two others injured.

The third terror activity occurred on February 11 when a worker of the MQM-P was killed and another sustained injuries after six armed men on three motorcycles attacked a union council office in New Karachi with sub-machineguns and 9mm pistols.

Besides these three cases, several other violent cases targeting political parties have recently occurred in the city, including the killings of Abidi, who was targeted on December 25 last year, and a PSP leader and Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry member, Adeel Habib Khilji, who was shot on February 18.