NAWABSHAH: Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah has said four suspects involved in the brutal attack on the Shia Ismaili community bus near Safoora Goth are being grilled to find clues to the perpetrators and planners.

He added that the culprits arrested were the facilitators of the gun attack.

The chief minister disclosed this while talking to journalists after chairing the 13th convocation of the Peoples University of Medical and Health Sciences, Nawabshah.

More than 45 people belonging to the Ismaili community were killed and many others were wounded in the targeted attack on May 13. Mr Shah said they would not tolerate terrorism in Sindh and would eliminate each and every terrorist from the land.

The chief minister said there were chances of the involvement of the Indian intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) in the incident. But it would be too early to arrive at this conclusion as the investigation was still under way, he said.

It was yet to be ascertained if RAW, banned militant groups or any political party was behind the incident, he added.

Answering a question, Mr Shah said that former home minister Dr Zulfikar Mirza was inexperienced in politics. He was not in a position to teach politics to the chief minister, he said, adding that everyone knew about the hidden forces behind him.

The Pakistan Peoples Party belonged to Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and he would lead it at a time of his choice, the chief minister added.

Earlier while addressing the ceremony, he praised the vision of former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto who had established Peoples Medical College in 1974 and Benazir Bhutto who gave priority to the health and education sectors. He said the college that later attained the university status produced hundreds of graduates every year. There was a dire need of lady doctors in the rural areas of Sindh and now it was the responsibility of students graduating from the university to serve humanity, he added.

Mr Shah also announced that four buses and sufficient funds would be provided to the university for the establishment of a dental college. He asked the graduates to act responsibly and perform their duties with honesty and dedication.

The chief minister awarded 400 degrees to MBBS graduates of four different batches besides gold, silver and bronze medals to position holders.

Sindh Health Minister Jam Mehtab Dehar, Peoples University Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Azam Hussain Yousafani, Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Naushad Shaikh also addressed the ceremony.

Later, the chief minister visited the PPP secretariat where he met party workers.

Exams rescheduled

Meanwhile, the Board of Intermediate Education Karachi on Tuesday announced date of exams postponed last week after an attack on a bus of Ismailis passengers near Safoora Goth. The postponed exams would be held on May 21. In a statement, BIEK chief controller examination Imran Chishti said the postponed exams of pre-engineering, pre-medical, science general, home economics, arts regular and arts private groups would be held at the same centres of students notified earlier.

“Similarly, students of arts regular group should contact their respective colleges for practical exams which would be starting from May 20,” added the statement.

Published in Dawn, May 20th, 2015

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