The group that attacked Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) leader Khawaja Izharul Hassan on Eid was also involved in recent attacks on police in Karachi, according to a press release issued by the Rangers on Tuesday.

The group which claimed the attack, the Ansar-ul-Shariah Pakistan (ASP), also carried out attacks on police personnel in Karachi's SITE, Bahadurabad, Azizabad, Northern Bypass and Gulistan-i-Jauhar areas, in which at least 7 police officers had been killed, read the handout issued after a high-level meeting at Rangers Headquarters.

All these incidents and the attack on the Sindh Assembly opposition leader on Eidul Azha were carried out by the same group, the handout said, adding that forensic testing of the weapons used in the attack had revealed a match with arms used in the previous attacks.

The meeting to review progress in the Izhar attack case was chaired by Director General (DG) Rangers Muhammad Saeed, and included Inspector General Sindh A.D. Khawaja and others.

Participants of the meeting were informed that Abdul Karim Sarosh Siddiqui, a former Karachi University student, was the central leader of the ASP and had allegedly been involved in attacks on police and Izhar.

One of Izhar's suspected attackers was identified as Hassan bin Nazeer, a former student at NED and Sir Syed University, who had been working as a data lab technician at Daud University. Nazeer died on the way to the hospital after being caught and beaten by bystanders immediately after the attack on Izhar.

Others had fled the scene, the meeting was informed, and efforts to capture all assailants were being made.