FIA arrests leader of group involved in blackmailing 12-year-old girl

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Sunday claimed to have arrested a man who was involved in blackmailing a 12-year-old girl.

FIA Sub-Inspector Akbar Khan said a complaint was received from the mother of a 12-year-old girl, who was being harassed by a man or a group of men by regularly forcing her to go to the bathroom and connect on video call.

Khan said the man or men made her do indecent things on the video call and recorded them, adding that one of them, namely Nibraz, blackmailed her into letting him spend the night at her house. “We also have video evidence,” said the officer.

Talking about how the FIA caught the man identified as Nibraz, the official said their team was with the girl when she received his call, following which he visited her at her house.

“When he visited her house, we arrested him and searched his mobile phone. We found a number of videos of not only this girl but other minors. These videos have been stored on [Microsoft] OneDrive and Google Drive.”

Sub-Inspector Khan said that FIR No. 16/2019 under sections 20, 21, 22 (Child Pornography) and 24 of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act 2016 has been registered and the prime suspect arrested.

Two held for cop’s murder

The District West police on Sunday claimed to have arrested two suspects allegedly involved in the killing of a policeman in Baldia Town.

According to police officials, a police’s court Muhrir, Zahid Azeem, was martyred on July 18 when shot by three armed men whom he attempted to arrest while they were fleeing after robbing a mobile phone shop of four mobile phones and Rs40,000 in the Madina Colony area of Baldia Town.

The policeman was shot once in his head and died on the spot while the culprits managed to escape.

Two of the suspects were later identified by the investigators with the help of CCTV footage, police officials said, adding that they were arrested during a raid in the Saeedabad area. They were identified as Omar Ali and Zaid Wali.

The police claimed to have seized a pistol, a motorcycle, four mobile phones and Rs23,000 in cash from their possession.

The suspects also reportedly confessed to their crime. Citing the criminal record of the arrested suspects, the police said Ali was wanted by the police in seven cases while three cases of crime had been registered against Wali. Further investigations are under way.

Two held for injuring cop

A raid in the Liaquatabad locality resulted in Head Constable Syed Naseem Khan of the Super Market police station being injured. The raid took place after HC Khan received word through an informant that two habitual criminals of the area were present near Liaquatabad’s Ketli Chowk with the intent to carry out criminal activities.

When Khan, along with HC Syed Munir Shah, arrived at the designated spot, the suspects opened fire on them. Khan was wounded during the shootout and later shifted to a hospital, where he is now out of danger, but the suspects managed to escape from the scene.

When police officials arrived and began to inquire about the incident, they discovered an empty shell of a 30-bore pistol from the crime scene, and a case was registered against the suspects.

A special police team was also constituted to arrest the individuals involved in the incident, and they succeeded after a raid conducted in Liaquatabad’s Bandhani Colony led them to suspects Adeel and Ayaz Hussain, alias Ayan.

Police officials said the suspects admitted to their crime after a 30-bore pistol and the motorcycle used in the incident were recovered from them, adding that further investigation was under way.

Four ‘criminals’ arrested

The Sindh Rangers claimed to have arrested four individuals suspected of criminal activities during raids conducted in different parts of the city on Sunday.

The spokesperson for the paramilitary force said three suspects were arrested during raids in Korangi and Baldia Town. They were identified as Zain (alias Mughal), Adeel and Shahid, who were all previously involved in robberies and street crime.

The Rangers troops also conducted a raid in the Khokhrapar area, and arrested Nazeer Ahmed, a suspect involved in drug peddling. The spokesperson said arms, ammunition and drugs were recovered from the suspects’ possession, and they were later handed over to the police.

Eight held for car thefts

The District South police on Sunday claimed to have arrested eight suspects, including a couple, allegedly involved in drug peddling.

District South SSP Sheraz Nazeer informed media persons during a news conference at his office on Sunday that the District South police seized a huge quantity of drugs, including crystal methamphetamine, commonly known as ice, and hashish, from the suspects’ possession. The police also recovered four cars stolen by them, he said.

The officer said one of the arrested suspects, Shahnawaz Tariq, was the mastermind of the gang. The other suspects were identified as Shahrukh Iftikhar, his wife Nadia, alias Aliza, Zaid, alias Zaibi, Ahsan Nadeem, Noman Awan, Asma Rizvia and Sana Mir.

SSP Nazeer claimed that the gang was involved in supplying drugs particularly to the posh localities and educational institutions.

The suspects also confessed to their involvement in theft of cars in various parts of the city, the SSP said, adding that after stealing cars in Karachi, the gang used to sell them in Balochistan and got drugs and cash in exchange for the vehicles.

Police officials said the recovered cars had been stolen within the limits of the Sharea Faisal, Frere and Bahadurabad police stations. The police are looking for the remaining members of the gang and further investigations are under way.

Talking about the Mureed Abbas case, SSP Nazeer said a driver of suspect Atif Zaman, Nadeem, also attempted to commit suicide to avoid investigations and a case of attempted suicide would be registered against him in District East as he lived there. He said the National Accountability Bureau had also been informed about Zaman who had allegedly defrauded several people.

Two of a family drown

Two members of a family drowned off the Hawkesbay beach, where they had gone for a picnic with another family member, whom lifeguards were able to find in an unconscious state.

The survivor was immediately taken to the Civil Hospital Karachi, while the bodies of the deceased were fished out and handed over to their families.

The deceased were identified as 25-year-old Abdul Basit, son of Abdur Raheem, and 35-year-old Irfan Ali. The survivor was identified as 18-year-old Hammad, son of Abdul Ghaffar. Police said their families belonged to the Saeedabad area of Baldia Town.