Police on Thursday registered a case against the outlawed Sindhudesh People’s Army, said to be a coalition of Sindhi and Baloch separatist outfits, for attacking Chinese dentists in Karachi’s Saddar area on September 28, police officials said.

Dr Richard Hu and his wife Phen Teyin were injured while their employee, Ronald Raymond Chou, was killed on Wednesday when an unidentified assailant opened fire inside a clinic near Preedy Street.

According to Senior Superintendent (South) Asad Raza, the victims held both Canadian and Pakistani nationalities.

The senior officer told Dawn.com today that the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) has registered a case on behalf of the state at the Preedy police station on murder and terrorism charges against the SPA, who had claimed responsibility for the attack through social media.

“The police believe that the attack was aimed at sabotaging relations between Pakistan and China and it was a conspiracy against uplift projects in the country,” Raza said.

He went on that the health of the injured couple was out of danger now.

According to the first information report (FIR), between 4:10pm and 4:15pm on Wednesday, Dr. Richard, his wife, and their cashier were busy with their dental work when a customer wearing jeans, a shirt and a red cap entered the clinic.

The customer said that he wanted to get his teeth scaled, the complaint said.

“After five to six minutes, he stood up from the waiting lounge and proceeded towards the doctors’ cabin where he took out a pistol and started firing.

“Immediately afterward, the suspect fled outside where his accomplice, who was also wearing pants and shirt, was waiting with a parked motorbike and fled.”

The FIR said that during the investigation, through intelligence sources and social media, the police found out that the SPA had taken the responsibility for the attack.

The SPA is a coalition group of both Sindhi and Baloch separatist movements, the complaint added.

Earlier, CTD official Raja Umer Khattab told Dawn that the incident appeared to be a targeted killing carried out after a proper reconnaissance.

However, Khattab added that mostly those Chinese who came on visa and were affiliated with projects had been targeted in the past.

“But the Chinese dentists have been living in the country for the past 50 years and they have become Pakistani now. They are attacked because they were an easy target,” he added.