Karachi police arrest target killer involved in 35 murders

KARACHI: Police on Monday claimed to have arrested a target killer involved in the killing of 35 people in the metropolitan.

According to Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) East, Sajid Saduzai, “The suspect identified as Muhammad Aslam is accused of killing at least 35 people”.

The police official further said that the arrested killer was also involved in May 12 killings back in 2007 when dozens of people were killed in a violent clash between various political groups and sections.

SSP Sajid said the suspect used to charge an amount between Rs 70,000 to Rs 100,000 for a single murder and had carried out killings of political figures, businessmen, religious personalities and others.

Citing the initial investigation, the police officer also said the accused had confessed to affiliated with Muttahida Qaumi Movement London (MQM-L) since 2001.

On June 27, the Special investigation unit of Karachi police had apprehended a suspected target killer affiliated with Muttahida Qaumi Movement-London (MQM-L) for his alleged involvement in killings of over 100 people in the metropolis.

According to Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Irfan Bahadur, the police, acting on an intelligence report, had conducted a raid at a house in Karachi’s Orangi Town area and detained Shakeel alias ‘Haddi’.

The police officer had maintained that Shakeel was an important member of MQM-L’s ‘death squad’, adding that he was running a group of target killers in the metropolis. He said that his group comprised 32 members of target killers.

Citing initial investigations, Irfan Bahadur said that accused Shakeel alias ‘Haddi’ confessed to killing over 100 people in different parts of the city on the orders of MQM’s leadership.

The MQM-L target killer had confessed that he had killed Sub Inspector Aleem Shah and a police constable Rana Sohail in 2011, Qatar Hospital’s MLO Dr Muhammad Irfan, dozens of ANP workers and leaders.