File Photo. Asif Hassan—AFP
The Karachi Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) on Tuesday claimed it had arrested a member of the banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) who was allegedly involved in several high-profile killings in the Sindh capital.
“The CTD’s LJ [Lashkar-e-Jhangvi] cell in-charge carried out an action in Patel Para and arrested Hafiz Qasim Rasheed alias Bilal and recovered hand grenade and unlicensed 30-bore pistol along with six bullets from his custody,” read a statement issued by the CTD. It alleged the suspect had orchestrated the killings of Qawwal Amjad Sabri, gunned down in Karachi in 2016, as well as the 2010 killing of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) MPA Raza Haider, for which he was arrested before being released recently.
Describing the accused as a “dangerous terrorist affiliated with banned [LeJ],” the statement further alleged he had operated a “network” from jail during his incarceration in 2012. It claimed that during his time in prison, Rasheed had allegedly been involved in the killings of four Rangers personnel, two Army soldiers and four members of the Shia community. He achieved this through the cooperation of accomplices, namely Asim alias Capri and Ishaq alias Bobby, it added.
“He [Rasheed]—along with his accomplices namely Waseem alias Baroodi, Abdullah, Danish, Hafiz Khalaq, Pervez, Qari Inayat and Abdullah Ilyas Taimuri—was planning more terror incidents,” the CTD claimed, adding a case had been registered against him and an investigation launched.
The CTD press release claimed the suspect had “confessed” to killing jail assistant superintendent Pir Masood Ahmed and jail deputy superintendent Abdul Razzaq Abbasi, among others, during a preliminary investigation.