KARACHI - Rangers on Wednesday said they had apprehended two workers of a political party for their involvement in the target killings of Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP) workers.

The arrests were disclosed at a press conference addressed by Rangers spokesperson Colonel Qaiser Khattak at Rangers Headquarters.

The spokesperson said those arrested were involved in the target killings of two PSP workers, Abdul Majeed alias Nadeem Mullah and Arshad alias Lal Khan in Orangi Town on July 17, and belonged to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-London (MQM-L).

The target killers were identified as Muhammad Rahim and Muhammad Danish, who, as per Rangers’ claim, were in contact with MQM-L’s setup in South Africa through WhatsApp at the time of the incident. “The target killers had been given the task by party’s South Africa-based activist Qamarul Islam alias Teddy alias Waseem Bhai (code name Abdullah) about a month ago to complete this swift operation,” Colonel Khattak revealed. “Weapons and a motorcycle used in the killings of two people in Orangi Town have also been recovered from them,” he explained.

The Rangers official further said that Altaf Hussain had also commended the target killers for successfully completing the task.

He also disclosed that Rs50,000 had been transferred to the bank accounts of both the target killers from South Africa as a reward.

“They had also remained involved in wall chalking in favour of MQM-L chief,” Colonel Khattak said, and added, “They had told the investigators that they worked on the orders of Altaf Hussain, Nadeem Nusrat, Qamar Teddy and Babu Bhai.”

The officer said that a special team had been constituted to arrest the killers of two PSP workers in Orangi Town, adding that although two target killers had been arrested, some of their accomplices would also be arrested soon.

“We have also found voice messages in the target killers’ mobile phones in which Abdullah congratulated them on behalf of MQM-L founder,” the officer explained. “In the second voice message, Altaf Hussain congratulated the South Africa-based network for carrying out the target killing of PSP workers with the help of their operatives in Karachi.”

“Besides this, those arrested confessed before the investigators that they had also killed several others on the behest of MQM-L leadership, adding that they had also spread anti-Pakistan, anti-army and anti-law enforcement agencies material,” Rangers spokesperson said, and added, ““The arrested killers also told the investigators that their absconding accomplices were planning to carry out attacks on the leaders of different political parties on the orders of MQM-L leadership.

“Sindh Rangers wants to give a message to the anti-state elements in London and South Africa that gone are the times when people were killed with impunity and the city was closed down on one phone call. The people of Karachi and those living outside have rejected them and the evidence of this is that a passerby, who was witness to the killings of PSP workers, helped us probe this case.

We are keeping an eye on all such elements and will deal with them,” he warned.

Meanwhile, another relative of Muttahida Qaumi Movement-London (MQM-L) founder Altaf Hussain was picked up by security agencies here.

According to details, Abdul Aziz Ansari alias Chand Bhai was arrested on Tuesday while Hussain’s cousin Khalid Hussain, who had been arrested on July 19 remains missing.

MQM-L’s Coordination Committee, in a press statement, has strongly condemned the arrest of Ansari, saying that 52-year-old Ansari is an employee of District Municipal Corporation, East in Gulshan-e-Iqbal. “As soon as he sat in his car after leaving the office on Tuesday, plainclothes personnel took him away with them in a SUV,” reads a statement.

“The plainclothes personnel of spy agency had also their faces covered with masks.”

It further reads that although Ansari has nothing to do with politics, he has been arrested twice. “Since he used to live in Azizabad earlier, he was arrested during a paramilitary raid at Nine-Zero on March 11, 2015,” the statement states, and adds

that the whereabouts of Khalid Hussain who had been picked up from North Nazimabad remain untraceable.

The coordination committee demanded immediate release of Altaf Hussain’s relatives.

However, no law enforcement agency has disclosed their arrests.