KARACHI - The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) of the Sindh police, in collaboration with Rangers, on Saturday claimed to have killed two members of a sleeper cell of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) allegedly involved in the killings of policemen in Karachi.
Karachi has witnessed series of attacks on policemen by militant outfits as nearly 10 cases have so far been reported in the ongoing year. However, CTD says it has probed only two cases of attacks on police out of total 10.
The cases, the CTD say it has probed, are of attacks on policemen in Awami Colony and Abdul Hassan Isphani Road.
Three policemen and a passerby had been killed when armed gunmen riding at least three motorcycles had targeted and opened indiscriminate fire at a mobile of Awami Colony police station near Darul Uloom, Korangi on Friday July 21 while a police traffic warden, Khan Muhammad, was killed and another was wounded critically in an incident of firing when they were busy regulating traffic on Abul Hassan Isphani Road on July 24. The attackers had also taken the official MP-5 rifle from the traffic warden with them before leaving the spot.
“The militants killed on Saturday were involved in the killings of cops in Korangi’s Awami Colony area and Abdul Hassan Isphani Road,” claimed CTD DIG Amir Farooqui while addressing a press conference at his office. He was flanked by CTD In-charge Raja Omar Khattab on the occasion.
“Rangers personnel also accompanied our men in the raid,” he said, and added the raid was conducted on the hideout of militants in Noorani Basti area of Korangi.
CTD officials said the encounter had taken place when militants attacked CTD and the Rangers personnel. The militants attacked the law enforcers with hand grenades and resorted to indiscriminate firing, they explained.
Those killed were identified as Irfanullah alias Hammad aka Sheena and Nasir alias Khalid, associated with Mufti Shakirullah Group of TTP.
CTD police also claimed to have recovered a huge cache of explosives, detonators, two pistols and pamphlets from their possession.
DIG Amir Farooqui said that the terrorists had planted a time bomb at their hideout to kill the cops at the time of the raid. ‘However, the bomb was defused by the experts from the bomb disposal squad,” he added.
Raja Omar Khattab on the occasion claimed that the forensics of the two pistols recovered from their possession had also confirmed that the militants perished in the encounter were involved in attacks on policemen on Abul Hassan Isphani Road and Korangi. Sindh IGP AD Khawaja has also announced Rs5 million as reward for the CTD team for conducting a successful operation.
On the other hand, it has been learnt that the militants killed in encounter with CTD and Rangers were already in the custody of the law enforcers.
Additional IG Karachi Ghulam Qadir Thebu had also claimed in the first week of August that the two militants Nasir and Irfan had been taken into custody in connection with the killings of cops in Korangi and Abdul Hassan Isphani Road.
As CTD police prides itself on killing two militants involved in two cases of attacks on police in Karachi, at least eight more such attacks are yet to be probed.
Ansarul Shariah Pakistan has already claimed responsibility for at least five attacks on cops in Karachi.