KARACHI: A man wanted in over two dozen murder cases, including that of Parveen Rehman, was shot dead in an alleged encounter in the Manghopir area late Tuesday night, officials said on Wednesday.
Mehfuzullah, alias Pir alias Bhalu, was gunned down during a raid on his hideout, well-protected with modern technology, by a special CID police team.
He had established a ‘reign of terror’ in the Kati Pahari and surrounding areas for the past six years, said the chief of the CID’s counter-terror unit, Raja Umer Khattab, at a press conference in his office on Wednesday.
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Tracing the origins of criminal activity of the killed suspect, the CID official said till 2008 Bhalu was a rickshaw driver. But later he joined a political party and was imprisoned for engineering ethnic disturbances in Qasba Colony. Originally hailing from Tor Ghar near Mansehra, the suspect was expelled from the political party for his alleged criminal record when he was released from prison.
He formed his own gang, comprising between 20 and 22 men, and started patronising drug peddlers. He also joined the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (Zawal group) and both groups jointly fought law enforcement agencies.
For a considerable period, Bhalu lived in his hideout set up on a hillock in the Kati Pahari area, where barriers were erected and CCTV cameras installed. Thus efforts in the past failed as the gang watched movements of LEAs and escaped action. Recently, he shifted his hideout to a Manghopir area.
The CID official said the special team raided the hideout from its back to avoid being seen by his men and in the ensuing shootout, lasting around half an hour, the wanted man was killed.
Raja Umer said Bhalu was also involved in the illegal sale of water in Qasba Colony and once he had a ‘quarrel’ with the slain OPP director Perveen Rehman.
“Bhalu had links with different mafias in the area but it could not be said with certainty that he was directly involved in Ms Rehman’s murder,” added the CID official.
Perveen Rehman was shot dead on March 21, 2013 at the Banaras flyover while being driven in a car.
A suspect arrested in the murder case was recently released by an anti-terrorism court for want of sufficient evidence.
Initially, the police had blamed militants for the OPP director’s murder and had killed a suspect, Qari Bilal, in an alleged encounter.
A judicial inquiry was also held into the incident and its findings questioned the veracity of claims of the police about the encounter. Later, under directions of the Supreme Court, the police authorities added the land and water mafia as probable suspects in the murder case.
Raja Umer Khattab said Bhalu was nominated in 27 cases at different police stations, including that of targeted killing of police officials. He was involved in the killings of over two dozen people besides other crimes. The Sindh government had announced a Rs500,000 reward for his arrest.
Two ‘militants’ killed in encounter
Two suspected militants were shot dead in an encounter in the Manghopir area on Wednesday evening, officials said.
A special team of the CID anti-extremism cell (AEC) on a tip-off conducted a targeted raid in Kunwari Colony, where they came under intense fire, claimed CID AEC chief DSP Ali Raza.
The police returned fire and arrested two suspects in the wounded condition, but they died while being taken to the Civil Hospital Karachi, he added.
The DSP identified the killed men as Akbar and Nazeer and claimed that they belonged to the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan.
The official said that Akbar was the ‘mastermind’ in the bomb attack on Inspector Shafiq Tanoli and the terror attack on Sachal Rangers in Nazimabad recently.
Published in Dawn, September 25th, 2014
