KARACHI: The police on Thursday claimed to have arrested three suspects allegedly involved in the killing of senior Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf leader Zahra Shahid, who was gunned down soon after the general elections in 2013 inside her home in Defence.

“The police have arrested three suspects, including the main suspect, involved in the murder of Zahra Shahid,” said AIG of Karachi Ghulam Qadir Thebo.

Speaking at a press conference at his office, he said that the held suspects belonged to a political party, but he refused to disclose their names and the name of the party.

However, he added the main suspect originally hailed from Hyderabad and was a resident of Defence Housing Authority.

The police also seized a 0.9mm pistol allegedly used in the murder, which was sent for a forensic analysis, the official said.

In a separate development, Mr Thebo said that the police arrested two suspects and recovered a huge quantity of explosive material and weapons concealed in a truck and being transported to the city.

The AIG Karachi said that police received a tip-off that a truck was on its way from Qilla Abdullah in Balochistan to the city to distribute weapons and drugs among different groups.

A police party was already deployed near Dhobi Ghat and when the truck reached there, the police encircled it and arrested two suspects identified as Salih Mohammed and Hameed, he said.

Mr Thebo said that 10 hand grenades, 24 rockets and five rifles and other arms and ammunition were recovered from the truck.

The city police chief believed that these weapons were to be distributed among different groups in the metropolis.

Published in Dawn, September 26th, 2014