KARACHI, May 31: The Crime Investigation Department (CID) of the Sindh police on Tuesday arrested four suspects in Mauripur area and claimed that they were members of a banned outfit and involved in sectarian killings in the city.

A senior CID official said the suspects — Munawwar Alam alias Bilal, Mohammad Shahid, Khawaja Talat Ali and Mohammad Ali — were arrested after a brief encounter near Lucky Pahari on Hub River Road within the remit of the Mauripur police station.

“The arrested militants are associated with the Lashkar-i-Jhangvi outfit,” said SP Mohammad Aslam Khan of the CID’s anti-extremists cell. “We have also seized two AK-47 assault rifles, a 222 rifle, a TT pistol and a car snatched a few months ago. Besides targeted killings, they also confessed to have committed several robberies.”

Initial investigations revealed that the group had committed four murders on sectarian grounds in recent months, he said, adding that two house robberies and a case of kidnapping for ransom to their account had also been traced.