KARACHI: Local police claimed to have apprehended an alleged hitman of Muttahida Qaumi Movement-London (MQM-L) during a targeted raid in Ibrahim Hyderi area of the city on Tuesday.
According to police sources, on a tip-off, a police team conducted a raid and arrested Zahid Bangali, a close aid of the suspected target killer Raees Mama.
Police further said a hand grenade and a pistol were recovered from the possession of the accused. The further investigation against him is underway, police said.
It is worth mentioning here that the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) had apprehended the alleged target killer Raees Mama in Malaysia in 2017. He was then brought back to Pakistan to face trials in the criminal cases registered against the accused.
According to police, the accused Mama was affiliated with the militant wing of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM). He is considered to be a prime suspect of the May 12 incident where 40 people lost their lives in the metropolis.
He fled the country after an operation launched in Karachi against unscrupulous elements in 2013. Mama is also said to be a close companion of Hammad Siddiqui, an accused in the 2012 Baldia Town factory fire.
On June 27, the Special investigation unit of Karachi police had apprehended a suspected target killer affiliated with Muttahida Qaumi Movement-London (MQM-L) for his alleged involvement in killings of over 100 people in the metropolis.
According to Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Irfan Bahadur, the police, acting on an intelligence report, had conducted a raid at a house in Karachi’s Orangi Town area and detained Shakeel alias ‘Haddi’.
The police officer had maintained that Shakeel was an important member of MQM-L’s ‘death squad’, adding that he was running a group of target killers in the metropolis. He said that his group comprised 32 members of target killers.
Citing initial investigations, Irfan Bahadur said that accused Shakeel alias ‘Haddi’ confessed to killing over 100 people in different parts of the city on the orders of MQM’s leadership.
The MQM-L target killer had confessed that he had killed Sub Inspector Aleem Shah and a police constable Rana Sohail in 2011, Qatar Hospital’s MLO Dr Muhammad Irfan, dozens of ANP workers and leaders.
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