Three members of banned outfit arrested over martyring policemen

The East Range police on Wednesday announced arrests of three suspected terrorists of the banned Lashker-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), including a woman, who were allegedly involved in the killings of policemen and others.

East Range Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police Amir Farooqi said investigations into the escape of some LeJ terrorists from the Karachi Central Jail and recent killings of

policemen led to the arrests of the three suspects.

During the investigations, the law enforcement agencies (LEAs) received reports of the presence of members of a banned outfit in the Soldier Bazaar area, the East DIG said. Reacting to the information, a raid was carried out in the area in which two men, Rashid and Siraaj, and a woman, Sakina Naaz, were apprehended. The LEAs seized two pistols, as many Avan bombs and a motorcycle from their possession that the suspects used in target killings.

DIG Farooqi said the suspects were associated with a group of the banned LeJ led by Shaikh Mumtaz, alias Firaun. He added that they were involved in the killings of policemen in Karachi, especially in District West.

During interrogation, the suspects revealed that they worked for Mumtaz who had escaped from the Karachi Central Jail three years ago along with his associate Ahmed Ali, alias Munna. They told the LEAs that Mumtaz was in Karachi five months ago where he was living in Gulshan-e-Zia in disguise.

The DIG said during his recent stay in Karachi, Mumtaz lived at the house of a man, Afroze, who had been arrested in interior Sindh by the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) and detained in a prison in Sukkur.

The officer maintained that Mumtaz had also stayed at Naaz’s house where he was taken by Afroze’s brother, Muqeem, alias Shan. The DIG said Mumtaz, after he escaped the prison, fled to Afghanistan where he stayed for many months before he came back to Karachi.

DIG Farooqi said Naaz revealed that her younger brother Zainul Abideen was also a member of the target killing team that followed Mumtaz’s orders. The female suspect also identified target killers in CCTV footage of target killings of policemen. According to the DIG, in one of the footage, Naaz identified the killer wearing a cap on a motorcycle as Mumtaz himself. In other footage, she identified the killer as Mamnoon, alias Sameer, who was an associate of Mumtaz and a member of his target killing team.

Another arrested suspect, Rashid, disclosed that he was directly working under Mumtaz and was involved in extortion, DIG Farooqi said. Rashid told the LEAs that once he refused to demand extortion money from a trader, after a call was received from a man, Maulana Zahid, to Mumtaz who ordered him not to extort money from that particular trader. When Mumtaz was in prison, his family was taken to the jail by Rashid on multiple occasions, the DIG said.

Meanwhile, the third arrested suspect, Siraj, revealed that he was a former husband of Naaz and a close associate of Mumtaz, and was also in constant touch with Abideen. The DIG said Siraj revealed that the target killing team of Mumtaz comprised Mamnoon, Abideen and Sameer, whereas, there was another team that comprised Shaan, alias Mamoo, and Munna. He said Mumtaz was the emir of the banned LeJ’s District West chapter.

The suspect also allegedly informed the investigators that he along with other members of the gang had targeted several policemen and people who refused to pay extortion money.

DIG Farooqi said search for other suspects of the terrorist group was under way.