KARACHI - The lawyer bodies have boycotted the court proceedings and staged protest against the killing of Ashfaq Ahmed Advocate who was gunned down in Gulshan-e-Iqbal area in the wee hours of Sunday.
Ashfaq was shot dead and his companion Rifat was wounded when unknown gunmen resorted to firing at a car at University Road near Safari Park.
Their car also overturned when the incident occurred. Police officials said the lawyer was going home when armed assailants targeted him. Gulshan-e-Iqbal division SP Abid Qaimkhani said the victim was the legal advisor for a private construction company. The police have recovered the empty shells of a 9mm pistol from the crime scene. The police, however, were unable to ascertain the motive behind the incident. Further investigation is underway. On the other hand, lawyers’ bodies staged protest against the murder of Ashfaq outside the city court and also boycotted the hearings of several cases. The killing of professionals is continue which left a question mark on the performance of the law enforcement agencies, said former president Karachi Bar Association, Mehmoodul Hassan.
EXTORTIONIST GANG BUSTED
City police claimed to have busted an extortionist gang operating from abroad here on Monday.
The arrests were disclosed during a press conference held by Zone West and Central police chief DIG Feroz Shah at his office. At least three extortionist gangs were based in South Africa and one in Afghanistan. They used to threaten people by making calls to extort millions of rupees from professionals in Karachi.
One of the gang members operating in the city has been arrested. DIG Shah said the police traced the members of the gang and arrested three of them – Wasif, Rafiq and Faizan during a raid at their hideout in Khawaja Ajmair Nagri locality. Their another gang member namely Tufail was arrested from Jauharabad locality on the information provided by his already arrested three companions. The police also claimed to have recovered computers, extortion slips and weapons from their possession. “The gang is being operated from South Africa who directed them to threaten and collected the extortion money from the doctors, surgeons and pharmaceutical companies in Karachi,” DIG Shah explained. “They had extorted millions of rupees as well as killed several doctors in Karachi when they declined to pay extortion.”
The officer said the gang members used the name of Lyari gangsters but they originally belonged to a political party. Cases against them have been registered.
FOUR POLICE UNITS
MERGED INTO NACTA
All the four police units considered specialised in the cases of terrorism and extremism get into the fold of National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA). The units were named as Crime Investigation Department (CID) but all such police cells were renamed recently as Counter Terrorism Department (CTD).
Earlier in February, the Sindh government had renamed the CID as the CTD following the decision taken after the establishment of the NACTA, following the formulation of National Action Plan (NAP).
Currently, four units – the Counter Terrorism and Financial Crime Unit (CTFCU), Interrogation and Analysis Unit, Sectarian Intelligence Unit and Anti-Extremists Cell were working under the CTD, however, they have now been renamed. The CTFCU has now renamed as Transnational Terrorists Intelligence Group (TTIG).
Raja Omar Khattab is posted as a chief of TTIG. The Sectarian Intelligence Unit (SIU) has now been renamed as the Arms Militants Intelligence Group (AMIG) and Khurram Waris will be the in-charge of the group. Anti-Extremist Cell has been renamed as Sectarian Intelligence Group (SIG) and Ali Raza will be the in-charge of the cell. The Interrogation and Analysis Unit has been renamed with Pakistan Based Terrorists Intelligence Group (PBTIG) and Mazhar Mashwani will be the in-charge of the group.