KARACHI: The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) of police on Friday claimed to have detained the Karachi chief of the banned organisation Hizbut Tahrir and two other suspects in separate raids.

Hisam Qamar, the suspected chief of the Hizbut Tahrir’s Karachi chapter, worked in K-Electric as deputy general manager, said CTD SSP Usman Bajwa while addressing a press conference at his office.

The CTD arrested the suspect in a raid conducted in the Gulshan-i-Iqbal area and seized propaganda material from his possession. He was involved in spreading propaganda about his banned outfit among ‘influential people’. He also allegedly got some held suspects released on bail. “He was instigating the people associated with important educational institutions and other vital institutions against the country’s laws and the mode of governance,” said SSP Bajwa.

In a separate raid, the CTD detained Munir Ahmed Gopang allegedly associated with the outlawed Sipah-i-Muhammad Pakistan. He was absconder in a case before an antiterrorism court in Khairpur. He was allegedly involved in an attack on a rally of the banned organisation, Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat, in Gambat last year.

Also, the police detained a suspected hitman, Usman Ghani alias Gutka, in Eidgah for his alleged involvement in the killing of three persons in the old city areas, the officer said.

Published in Dawn, November 28th, 2015