Case registered against unknown men for Rashid Godil attack

Published August 19, 2015
Policemen stand next to  Rashid Godil's vehicle which came under attack on Tuesday. – DawnNews screengrab
Policemen stand next to Rashid Godil's vehicle which came under attack on Tuesday. – DawnNews screengrab

KARACHI: New Town police on Wednesday night registered a case against unknown suspects on terror charges for Tuesday's brutal attack on Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) MNA Rashid Godil.

Read: MQM's Rashid Godil critical after Karachi attack.

“Police have registered FIR 254/2015 on complaint of Mr. Godil’s brother-in-law under section 7-ATA (Anti-Terrorism Act of 1997), section 302 of Pakistan Penal Code and other sections against unknown suspects,” said Gulshan Superintendent of Police (SP) Abid Qaimkhani.

Police has also decided to conduct forensic examination of Mr Godil's car in addition to 'geo-fencing' the area, he said.

Statements of witnesses were also recorded.

The Gulshan SP said Mr Godil was on his way from Baloch Colony area to his residence in Bahadurabad when he was attacked. He added that the police had provided four guards to the MQM lawmaker's family after the attack.

Qaimkhani went on to say that Mr Godil had not informed police about any threats to him and had not demanded police security.

Investigators examined the crime scene, Godil's car and over half a dozen CCTVs installed on the route he travelled before the attack.

Following an initial probe, investigators believe a silencer-fitted pistol was used in the attack and that the attackers had been chasing the MQM legislator from Baloch Colony but targeted him in Bahadurabad.

“CCTV footage hinted at the possibility of the use of silencer-fitted pistol in the attack on Mr. Godil,” opined senior investigator of the Counter-Terrorism Department, Raja Umer Khattab.

Khattab said CCTV footage showed that after being attacked, Godil's driver did not seem to have realised that shots were fired on his car or that he (the driver) had himself been struck.

“The driver applied breaks and disembarked from the car apparently to see what had happened.

“He was checking the car to see what had happened and in the mean time, he collapsed probably due to excessive bleeding,” said the CTD official.

It was also possible, added Khattab, that the driver did not realise Mr. Godil was also shot and wounded inside the car.

Meanwhile, Additional Inspector General of Police, Karachi, Mushtaq Ahmed Mahar, on Wednesday proposed Rs5million reward money for any help that leads to the attackers' arrest.

In a letter to the Sindh Home Department, the police official requested that since “the incident was of serious nature” and was probably executed by “hardened criminals,” reward money of Rs5mn be sanctioned to ensure early detection of the assailants.

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