KARACHI: Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal appreciated the role of Rangers in restoring peace in the city during his meeting with the Director General of Pakistan Rangers, Sindh, Major General Mohammad Saeed, on Monday.

According to the Rangers’ spokesperson, the minister paid a visit to the Pakistan Rangers’ Sindh headquarters, laid a floral wreath at Yadgar-i-Shuhada and prayed for the soldiers who sacrificed their lives for restoring peace in the provincial capital. The Rangers had started Karachi operation in Sept 2013.

“The minister was briefed about ongoing targeted operations and investigation of the attack on Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan’s leader Khawaja Izharul Hassan,” said the Rangers’ official.

Later, the minister wrote his comments in the guestbook.

“The attack on Khwaja Izhar seemed to be an attempt to reverse the gains achieved by the law enforcement agencies during the last four years,” a security official said.

Izhar was attacked by armed men riding two motorcycles when he came out of a mosque after offering Eidul Azha prayers near his residence in Buffer Zone.

One of the assailants, later identified as Hasaan, was chased and gunned down by Taimuria police. The identification of the suspect helped the law enforcers launch an aggressive operation against the newly-formed terrorist outfit, Ansarul Sharia Pakistan, which had claimed responsibility for the attack through its Twitter account.

However, the perceived mastermind of the case, identified as Abdul Karim Sarosh Siddiqui, managed to escape during the raid on his house located off the Superhighway in the limits of Sachal police station after killing one policeman.

Published in Dawn, September 12th, 2017