KARACHI: A teenage girl, who was among more than a dozen people injured after a fast-moving vehicle crashed into a Muharram majlis at Masjid-o-Imambargah Baqiatullah in Defence Housing Authority a day ago, died during treatment, officials said on Monday.

South DIG Syed Asad Raza said that the 14-year-old girl, identified as Zunaira Akram, was under treatment at a private hospital, where she expired.

On Sunday evening, at around 9:30pm a Suzuki pickup rammed through the security barriers outside the imambargah in Phase VI, entered the congregation area and crashed into a majlis, wounding several attendees.

Initially, the police claimed that the incident took place after the vehicle went out of the driver’s control due to brake failure.

Probe transferred to CTD; security beefed up at DHA imambargah

However, on Monday, the police registered an attempted murder and terrorism case against the pickup driver and three other occupants of the vehicle on the complaint of the security head of the imambargah.

The DIG told Dawn that the case had been transferred to the Counter-Terrorism Department for investigation.

The FIR was registered at the Darakhshan police station under Sections 324 (attempted murder), 279 (Rash driving or riding on a public way), 337-G (punishment for hurt by rash or negligent driving), 427 (mischief causing damage to the amount of fifty rupees), 109 (abetment) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) read with Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA).

The complainant stated in the FIR that the driver of the vehicle had deliberately broken through the barriers and rammed into the tent under a “planned scheme and criminal conspiracy”.

He claimed that the vehicle was driven at a reckless speed with malicious intent, and that crashing directly into the seated mourners — including men, women and children — was a “planned and deliberate attempt” to cause harm.

“The act was not accidental but a deliberate rehearsal of a larger terrorist action, as constant threats have been emanating from banned outfits and sectarian organisations,” the complainant stated in the FIR.

It also referred to a video of the incident circulating on social media, which it claimed showed that the incident was “intentional” in targeting the religious gathering.

The FIR identified the driver as Mohammed Zahid and his three other companions as Bahadur Saeed, Momin Khan and Arsalan alias Nadan.

Alleging that the act was intended to cause harm and spread fear, the complainant said it constituted offences under the PPC and the ATA and termed it “sectarian terrorism”.

The complainant also accused the driver and his companions of having links with banned outfits.

The police said that the driver and his companions were already under custody.

The DIG said that they had also suffered injuries and were currently undergoing treatment at a hospital.

He said that during the initial probe, it transpired that two of them had a past criminal record.

Meanwhile, security has been beefed up at Imambargah Baqiatullah as 56 more policemen deployed there.

On Monday evening, Karachi police chief Azad Khan paid a visit to Imambargah Yasrab in DHA, Phase IV, and reviewed the security arrangements.

Published in Dawn, June 23rd, 2026