KARACHI: A union committee (UC) chairman and three others belonging to the Tehreek Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) were arrested for their alleged involvement in the Friday murder of an Ahmadi man in Saddar, police said on Monday.

South DIG Syed Asad Raza told Dawn that Kharadar UC chairman Yasir Akhtari, who went into hiding following the incident, was arrested on Monday morning from a warehouse in New Karachi.

He added three more suspects —Bilal, Amir and Hamza — were also arrested from different parts of the metropolis.

“They belong to TLP,” the DIG said, adding: “In total, 15 suspects have been arrested so far with help of CCTV footage and technical data. They were present at the crime scene and they took part in the murder of Laeeq Ahmed.”

However, he said two suspects — Inayatur Rehman and Riaz — were still at large and efforts were underway to apprehend them.

The DIG said that during a preliminary probe, it transpired that some people belonging to the religious party had conspired to eliminate Laeeq Ahmed as he was a star witness of an earlier vandalism case against them.

He said that these elements had “hidden their real intentions and raised alarm that a robber had been caught. They wanted to give the killing a colour of vigilante justice,” he said.

Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2025