KARACHI: Police officials investigating the gun attack on Muttahida Qaumi Movement lawmaker Abdul Rashid Godil on Wednesday said that the attackers riding a motorbike had chased his car from Baloch Colony flyover to Bahadurabad where they targeted him.

They arrived at this conclusion after examining footage of the route recorded by nearly half a dozen closed-circuit television cameras. “CCTV footage also hinted at the possibility of use of silencer-fitted pistol in the attack on Mr Godil,” said senior investigator of the counterterrorism department of police, Raja Umer Khattab.

The police investigators also decided to do forensic examination of the car and geo-fencing of the area.

In the Tuesday morning attack, Mr Godil was critically wounded and admitted to a private hospital, while his driver, Abdul Mateen, was shot dead.

Police plan forensic examination of Godil’s car. Family provided police security after the attack

Mr Khattab explained the CCTV footage showed that after being attacked, the driver did not seem to have realized that shots had been fired on the car and he [the driver] himself got wounded. Therefore, the driver applied the brakes and disembarked from the car apparently to see what had happened. “He was checking the car but since he had been wounded, he fell down probably due to excessive bleeding,” said the CTD official. It was also possible that the driver might not have realized that Mr Godil was also shot at and wounded inside the car, added Raja Umer Khattab.

FIR registered

Gulshan SP Abid Qaimkhani said the New Town police registered an FIR (254/2015) on a complaint of Mr Godil’s brother-in-law under Sections 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, 302 (premeditated murder) and other sections of the Pakistan Penal Code.

The police also recorded statements of some witnesses, he said.

The officer explained that Mr Godil was on his way from Baloch Colony area to his residence in Bahadurabad when he was attacked.

Police unaware of any threats

He said Mr Godil had never informed the police about any threats to him nor had he demanded police security. Following the attack, the police provided four police guards to the lawmaker’s family, the officer said.

About the possible motive for the targeted attack, the SP said since it was a high-profile attack carried out just a day after the killing of Punjab home minister Shuja Khanzada in Attock, the motive might be to create uncertainty or it could be a reaction to the killing of militants in ‘encounters’ in the metropolis.

Meanwhile, Karachi police chief Mushtaq Ahmed Mahar on Wednesday proposed Rs5 million as reward money for those who would provide information or help leading to the arrest of the attackers.

In a letter to Sindh home department, the city police chief said some hardened criminals could be involved in this attack, which was of serious nature, it was requested that Rs5 million be sanctioned as reward money to ensure early detection of the culprits.

Crucial 24 hours as Godil makes progress

Warning that the next 24 hours were crucial, doctors at the Liaquat National Hospital on Wednesday said Muttahida Qaumi Movement leader Rashid Godil, who was critically wounded in an attack a day earlier, was making satisfactory progress.

Anjum Rizvi, a spokesman for the hospital, said Mr Godil was on 40 per cent ventilator support.

He said Mr Godil’s lungs had been badly affected, yet his cerebral and kidney functions were normal, as was his heartbeat and blood pressure.

Quoting doctors, Mr Rizvi said the condition of the lawmaker was still critical.

“A panel of doctors will soon decide whether to take him off the ventilator or not. The next 24 hours are extremely crucial for Mr Godil,” Mr Rizvi said.

Doctors said Mr Godil, who underwent an emergency surgery following the attack, had sustained five bullet wounds ─ two in the neck and three in the chest.

A panel comprising 18 doctors for Mr Godil declared him clinically stable, yet they did not rule out the chances that his condition could destabilise.

The hospital spokesman said it was making initial preparations for taking Mr Godil off the ventilator. He said the hospital staff had stopped administering the patient sedatives to monitor his reactions.

Meanwhile, Sindh Health Minister Jam Mehtab Dahar also said in a statement that the condition of Mr Godil was “now out of danger”.

Published in Dawn, August 20th, 2015

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