Naimat Khan
KARACHI: Police found no proofs of presence of the accused Waseem, who was brought to Karachi after being arrested in Sahiwal city of Punjab, in the seaside metropolis, according police.
“We have found no proofs of his coming to Karachi and presence in the city during attacks on women during the last couple of weeks,” he told.
In his briefing to a Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights on Tuesday, DIG East Sultan Khawaja said the knife attack suspect recently arrested in Punjab, identified as Waseem, was not involved in the attacks. “There is no evidence which suggests that Waseem came to Karachi”, Khawaja said.
He apprised the committee that the suspect, Waseem, used 16 different SIMs and mobile phone sets; however, none of the SIMs was used to make or receive calls from Karachi.
DIG East said 13 of the incidents bore similarities. Since September 25, at least 15 incidents of knife attacks on women by a man riding a motorcycle have been reported in the metropolis, concentrated mainly in Gulistan-e-Johar and Gulshan-e-Iqbal areas. A total of 38 suspects have been detained in relation to the incidents, Khawaja said.
Meantime, Additional Inspector General (AIG) Mushtaq Ahmed Mahar told the committee that the police was investigating the incidents from several perspectives. A non-Government organization on last Wednesday filed a petition in the Sindh High Court, requesting court to transfer case of ‘knife attacker’ from ‘incompetent’ police to ‘competent’ Rangers and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).
The applicant has submitted that by now thirteen women have been injured in knife attacks but police, instead of arresting the culprit, are announcing head money on him.
“The Rangers and FIA should be tasked to arrest the culprit and federal interior ministry should be directed to interfere in this case,” the petitioner has further requested. Two weeks earlier on Weekend, the Task of arresting Karachi’s knife attacker has been given to Counter Terrorism Department.
According to details, the Sindh Police Chief handed over the task of arresting the knife attacker to Counter Terrorism Department after the area police failed to have any clue of the man, who has spread fear across Karachi, especially the area of Gulistan-e-Jauhar and its adjacent neighborhoods. The CTD started monitoring of Cameras and teams have been setup to reach to the attackers, but no result was seen till Wednesday.
Meanwhile, another man was arrested on last Saturday after which the number of arrested suspect surpassed fifteen a day earlier. Chief Minister Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah a day earlier claimed that the Karachi’s Knife attacker has been identified.
The attacker was previously arrested in Punjab, he said, adding; “We guess that the same person was identified in Punjab before.” The incidents have sparked fear and panic among the residents of the metropolis, forcing women to take extra precautions before venturing out.
