Four suspects of Safoora carnage sent on 14-day remand

KARACHI: An anti-terrorism court in Karachi on Thursday handed over to police four suspects of the Safoora bus attack on 14-day physical remand.

The four suspects – Saad Aziz, Muhammad Azhar Ishrat, Haafiz Nasir, Tahir Hussain Minhas – were arrested for their alleged involvement in the Safoora bus attack

The accused were taken in court under strict security where police asked the court for a 30-day remand to investigate the suspects. The suspects were presented in court for clashing with police and possesion of explosive material and illegal weapons.

The court remanded the suspects into police custody for 14 days for investigation and interrogation.

According to police, the four suspects have confessed to their involvement in a string of terrorist attacks in Karachi, including the deadly attack on the Ismaili community which claimed 46 lives and the murder of activist and T2F director Sabeen Mahmud.

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Engineer, business graduates among accused

Three of the four arrested terror suspects are highly-educated, with academic degrees from respected universities including the Institute of Business Administration (IBA) and Sir Syed University of Engineering and Technology (SSUET) in Karachi.

Tahir Hussain Minhas (with aliases Sain Nazir, Zahid, Naveed, Khalil, Mota) is the least educated having qualification of matriculation. Tahir was identified as the mastermind of the Safoora carnage. He had been engaged in terrorist activities since 1998 as having expertise in bomb making and use of arms.

The second arrested suspect Saad Aziz, with aliases Tin Tin and John, is a BBA degree holder from Institute of Business Administration Karachi. He is said to be the mastermind of killing of NGO activist and head of social forum The Second Floor, Sabeen Mahmud in Karachi.

The third one, Muhammad Azhar Ishrat alias Majid, has a degree in Electronics Engineering from Sir Syed University and has been involved in terrorism since 2011.

Hafiz Nasir alias Yasir has an MA degree in Islamic Studies from University of Karachi and has been said to be engaged in terrorist activities since year 2013.

At a press conference on Wednesday, Chief Minister Sindh Qaim Ali Shah said that the four arrested suspects, besides killing 47 people of Ismaili community, were also involved in following recent acts of terrorism and sabotage in Karachi: Murder of NGO activist Sabeen Mahmud, firing on US academic living in Karachi Debra Lobo in area of Ferozabad police station, magnet-fitted bomb attacks on Naval officers in Karachi, suicidal attack on Brig Basit of Rangers in Karachi, grenade attacks on private schools in Nazimabad and North Nazimabad, bomb blast and target killing of Bohri community in Arambagh, North Nazimabad, Bahadurabad and in Hyderabad, bomb attacks on police mobile vans and killings of police personnel at various locations in the city.

The weapons recovered from the four suspects include three Klashnikovs, seven 09 mm pistols, five grenades, five laptop computers, seven pieces of explosive materials, and extremist militant literature.