PESHAWAR: Police have identified one of the accused involved in the assassination of Sheikh al-Hadith Maulana Muhammad Idrees Tarangzai with the help of CCTV footage, as a joint investigation by the Charsadda police and Counter Terrorism Department gains pace.
According to police officials, the process of identifying suspects through CCTV images from the crime scene has been accelerated, and one attacker has been identified so far. The official said the identified terrorist is an operative of a banned organisation, though the group’s name was not disclosed.
مولانا شیخ ادریسؒ پر ہونے والے قاتلانہ حملے کی سی سی ٹی وی ویڈیو منظرِ عام پر آگئی، جس میں حملہ آوروں کی کارروائی واضح طور پر دیکھی جا سکتی ہے۔#پشاور #شہید_شیخ_ادریس_رح #شیخ_ادریس #پاکستان pic.twitter.com/6qoCcXnF1U
— Hameed Baloch (@HD_7691) May 5, 2026
Raids were conducted in Akbarpura and Nowshera to arrest the identified suspect, while search operations are also under way in suburban areas of Charsadda district, officials added.
Maulana Idrees, a prominent scholar and JUI-F leader known as Sheikh al-Hadith, was killed on Tuesday morning when four assailants on two motorcycles opened indiscriminate fire on his vehicle in the jurisdiction of Utmānzai police station at around 08:10am. Two police constables assigned to his security were critically injured. He was declared martyred en route to hospital.
Police said the scope of the investigation has been expanded. The team has decided to include suspects from old high-profile cases in the Mardan region in the probe. The process of tracking and profiling suspicious vehicles has also begun.
The statement of the driver of Maulana Idrees’s vehicle has been recorded, officials confirmed. Investigators are also contacting relevant institutions to obtain call data records of mobile phones used at the scene. A letter has been written to the concerned authorities for the call data, police said.
“Work is under way on further profiles and data of the identified terrorist,” a senior police official told Dawn, adding that multiple leads are being pursued.
Meanwhile, the assassination has triggered widespread protests across Charsadda, with Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl announcing a province-wide strike today. Demonstrators blocked Farooq-e-Azam Chowk on Tuesday and rallies were reported from the scholar’s native village of Turangzai. Markets in Charsadda remained shut.
