KARACHI: Two days after a Muttahida Qaumi Movement lawmaker had survived an armed attack near Sakhi Hasan, police claimed to have arrested the suspected attacker and described the incident as a robbery attempt.

Saleem alias Romeo was arrested in a raid in Esa Goth area of Azizabad on Monday, said SSP Central Muqaddas Haider. A 30-bore pistol and a hand grenade were seized from his custody, the officer added.

MQM legislator Jamal Ahmed had survived the attack on his car just outside his home in Shadman Town due to the timely intervention of his police guard, Syed Ali Najaf, who fired at the armed motorcyclist on seeing him approaching the lawmaker with a loaded pistol. The attacker returned fire and fled, abandoning the motorbike at some distance.

Police say it was a robbery attempt 

The suspect, Saleem, told police interrogators that he had come to Shadman Town with the intention to commit robbery on June 10. He said he saw Mr Ahmed getting into his car at around 2.30pm and pulled up close to him with intention of committing robbery. But he became panicky as he saw the police guard and opened fire on him in a bid to escape. He said he abandoned his motorbike near Sakhi Hasan graveyard.

Later, he added, he snatched a motorbike from one Mohammed Asif and managed to speed away. An FIR of the snatching was lodged at the Shahrah-i-Noorjehan police station on Saturday.

The suspect also told the police that he had been involved in street crimes for the past two years, said the SSP Central while addressing a press conference at his office.

“He was earlier arrested by the SITE Superhighway police in a drugs case.”

The detained suspect also told the police that he along with his accomplices had robbed an ice cream shop in the Gulberg area on April 30.

Although the Shahrah-i-Noorjehan police on a complaint of the lawmaker’s guard, Ali Najaf, had registered the case on charges of attempted murder, initial probe suggested that it could be an attempted robbery case, said SSP Haider.

Meanwhile, Inspector General of Police A.D. Khowaja and Additional IG Karachi Mushtaq Ahmed Mahar announced Rs300,000 cash reward for the police party for arresting the suspect, Saleem.

Published in Dawn, June 13th, 2017