KARACHI: Police on Monday registered a terrorism case against the driver of a van that crashed into a tent of mourners outside an imambargah in Karachi’s Defence Housing Authority (DHA) a day earlier.
Three of the driver’s companions were also named in the first information report (FIR) registered on the complaint of the imambargah’s security head.
According to police, at around 9.30pm on Sunday night, a Suzuki pick-up had rammed into a tent outside the imambargah where mourners were attending a Muharram majlis.
A teenage girl injured in the incident succumbed to her wounds today. Twenty-three others were injured in the incident, including the driver and his companions, who are under treatment at a hospital and have been taken into custody.
Five wounded were treated for minor injuries and discharged immediately, whereas the condition of a man admitted to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) remains critical.
South Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Syed Asad Raza earlier said the driver had lost control of the vehicle due to its excessive speed and rammed through the security barriers installed approximately 200 metres from the imambargah to protect majlis attendees.
After breaching the barriers, the vehicle entered the congregation area and intruded into the tent where the gathering was in progress, wounding several attendees.
The FIR filed by the imambargah’s security head alleged 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 FIR claimed.
The FIR 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 accused driver as Mohammed Zahid and 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 FIR also accused the driver and his companions of having links with banned outfits.
DIG Raza told Dawn that initial investigations revealed two of the arrested had a criminal record and were allegedly drug abusers.
The DIG said the case has been transferred to the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) for further investigation. CCTV footage and other relevant evidence were being collected to ascertain the facts of the incident.