KARACHI: An eyewitness rightly picked out two Bohra community mosque blast suspects during an identification parade held by a judicial magistrate on Tuesday.

Saad Aziz alias Tin Tin alias John and Tahir Hussain Minhas alias Sain, who were arrested for their alleged involvement in the brutal gun attack on a Shia Ismaili bus near Safoora Goth, were also booked in the case pertaining to the motorbike bomb blast outside Saleh Mosque near Haqqani Chowk in the Arambagh area during Friday prayers on March 20.

At least two people were killed and five others injured in the explosion.

The police produced the suspects before the court amid tight security arrangements. The judicial magistrate (south) conducted the identification parade after completing legal formalities.

The suspects were lined up in a row of dummies when the magistrate called the witness, who was one of the injured victims, thrice during the identification parade before changing their previous positions. The witness managed to rightly pick out both the suspects among the dummies on all occasions and deposed that the suspects were seen at the crime scene before the incident.

Meanwhile, an antiterrorism court remanded both the suspects to prison till July 22 in the case and asked the investigating officer to submit an investigation report till the next hearing.

Safoora Goth carnage

Another ATC extended the physical remand of Saad Aziz, Tahir Minhas and their accomplice Asad-ur-Rehman alias Malik in the Safoora Goth bus carnage case till July 15.

The suspects along with their absconding accomplices were booked for allegedly killing 47 Shia Ismaili community members, including women, in a targeted attack on their bus near Safoora Goth on May 13.

Five eyewitnesses recently identified Saad and Tahir during an identification parade held by a magistrate.

The same set of suspects were also booked in the murder of social media campaigner and rights activist Sabeen Mahmud in April and in the grenade attack on a private school in North Nazimabad in March.

Besides, Saad was booked for allegedly shooting and wounding an American citizen and vice principal of Jinnah Medical and Dental College Karachi, Debra Lobo, on April 16.

Saad along with his absconding accomplices was also allegedly involved in a grenade attack at Islamic Research Centre Imambargah, during a majlis in October last year. A minor girl was killed and many other children and women were injured in the grenade attack.

Published in Dawn, July 15th, 2015

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