KARACHI: Police on Sunday claimed to have arrested three suspected militants, said to be part of a sleeper cell of outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), who recently formed a new network in the metropolis.

Acting on a tip-off, the police carried out action in SITE’s Valika Ground and arrested Niaz Ali, Shahrukh and Ajab Khan and seized three pistols from them, said Keamari SSP Fida Husain Janwari.

Niaz Ali had joined the banned Jaish-i-Mohammed in 2015 and got militancy training in 2016, the SSP said, adding that he also collected donations for the JM. Later in 2020, Ali joined the TTP and “brainwashed” youths for carrying out terror activities.

Suspect Shahrukh alias Abdul Rehman had also joined the JM in 2020 and later joined the TTP. He got militancy training in February 2021.

The third suspect, Ajab Khan, was first arrested after a police encounter in 2012. His father and brother were also affiliated with the TTP and they both were arrested in 2012. His father is still in the Lakkki Marwat jail.

‘Gangster’ arrested

The Keamari police claimed to have arrested a man allegedly involved in the killing of a policeman and a girl.

Acting upon a tip-off, the police arrested Waleed alias Chikna, a member of one of the various gangs operating in Lyari.

He was involved in murders, encounters with police, extortion and drug peddling.

During an initial probe, he admitted that he joined ‘Sheeraz group’ in 2010 and initially started selling the drugs ‘ice’ ‘crystal’. The police said the suspect along with his accomplices killed a policeman, Farooq, during an encounter near Sheerin Bakery in Old Golimar in 2016.

He along with his accomplices kidnapped a girl, Hajira, in Jehanabad and later killed her in the Mewa Shah graveyard, the police claimed.

The suspect, they said, was arrested after an encounter in 2018. He was also involved in the killing of a man, Shoaib alias Sookha, in 2020. The suspect also confessed to his involvement in several extortion cases, the police claimed.

Published in Dawn, May 3rd, 2021