KARACHI: Police on Saturday launched a probe into Friday’s targeted killing of a policeman in the Korangi Industrial Area after the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack.

Constable Arif Khan, 28, was shot dead while he was on his way to join his duty at Madadgar-15 in Mehran Town. He was riding a motorbike and was in uniform when armed pillion riders targeted him.

The Counter-Terrorism Department registered a murder case on the complaint of the victim’s brother and incorporated sections of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1997 in the FIR.

Outlawed TTP has claimed responsibility for Friday’s attack

The FIR said that the motive for the killing was to spread terror in the city. The slain constable was recruited in the Special Security Unit (SSU) in 2017. He originally hailed from Mansehra. He was father of a minor daughter.

The TTP had claimed responsibility through social media, but police authorities were in the process of verifying the claim.

“They [TTP] posted a tweet ... we are verifying its accuracy because similar claims were made in the past as well,” said DIG-CTD Omar Shahid Hamid.

Another CTD officer, Raja Umar Khattab, believed that the TTP had a presence in the area where the incident occurred.

He said that the 9mm pistol used in the killing was not used in any previous killings as per the report of the forensic science lab.

Constable Khan was the fifth policemen who had been martyred in the provincial capital this year.

Meanwhile, his funeral prayer was held at the SSU headquarters, which was attended by Inspector General of Police Mushtaq Ahmed Mahar, Karachi police chief Ghulam Nabi Memon and other senior officers.

The IG expressed his sorrow and grief with the family and paid tributes to the constable who he said sacrificed his life in the line of duty.

Four rockets seized

Pakistan Rangers, Sindh, and police launched a search operation in Madina Colony near Saadi Town on Saturday evening and seized four rockets lying in bushes.

According to a Rangers spokesperson, the paramilitary force conducted an intelligence-based action near KDA Electric Grid Station in Madina Colony and seized “four RPG-7”.

The Rangers got secret information that the RPGs had been hidden there. Acting on the tip-off, the Rangers’ Quick Response Force immediately reached the spot and recovered the armaments.

The paramilitary force used sniffer dogs and the bomb disposal squad to clear the area.

Separately, SSP-East Sajid Amir Sadozai said that “the area has been sealed and a search operation has been launched”.

Published in Dawn, September 20th, 2020