Picture courtesy Dunya News
The murderers of renowned social activist Sabeen Mehmud Shaheed have been apprehended.
“Saad Aziz, the mastermind of Ms Mahmud’s murder is a graduate from Institute of Business Administration (IBA). One of her shooters is an alumnus of Sir Syed University of Science & Technology. He holds a degree in electronics engineering,” Chief Minister Sindh, Syed Qaim Ali Shah, told a packed news conference earlier today.
Investigators have so far gleaned enough information out of the Safoora Goth massacre suspects, that this 15-20-strong gang of educated terrorists was involved in attacks on police, Bohri Shi’ite Muslims, and others.
Read: Police visit SSUET to acquire records of mass murdering terrorist
“Another of Ms Mehmud’s attackers, Hafiz Nasir, is a masters in Islamic studies. His alma mater is Karachi University,” Shah told reporters adding, “Nasir has been running with this pack of militants since 2013.”
The CM said that these suspects, who were all arrested in the last three days, had confessed to North Nazimabad and other grenade attacks in the city.
“Firearms of various caliber, ammo, explosives, etc. were also recovered from the suspects,” Shah added.
Last month, Sabeen Mahmud, the 40-year-old director The Second Floor cafe in Karachi which regularly hosted debates and arts events, was martyred when gunmen attacked her car as she left the venue minutes after hosting a seminar on abuses in the restive Balochistan province.
The same talk — featuring prominent Baloch activist Mama Qadeer who has campaigned for the “missing people” of Baluchistan — had been cancelled by the prestigious Lahore University of Management Sciences weeks earlier after members of faculty reported pressure from intelligence agencies.
Sabeen Mehmood, who ran ‘The Second Floor’, a cafe that organises debates and art events, had just left the venue with her mother when her car was attacked by gunmen in the upmarket neighbourhood of Defence. Mehmood was hit by five bullets and died at the scene, police said. Her mother was injured.
On May 13, pistol-wielding gunmen in the megalopolis of Karachi stormed a bus carrying members of the Shiite Ismaili community, killing at least 43 in the first attack in the country officially claimed by the Islamic State group.
