Karachi knife attacks 'suspect' inflicted self-injury after leaves request rejected: police
Man will be released after he records a statement with the police, says police official
October 09, 2017
KARACHI: A man who claimed to have been injured in an 'attack' by a knife-wielding suspect inflicted self-injury, said police on Monday.
Noman, the arrested suspect, injured himself with a sharp object after his employer — a mineral water company — refused his leave application, SSP East Dr Samiullah Soomro said.
"All of Noman’s [earlier] statements were false," Dr. Soomro said. "He injured himself with a sharp object after his weekend plans were disrupted because his employer rejected his leaves request."
The man, whose appearance was similar to the description of the knife-wielding criminal, who has attacked women in the metropolis, was picked up for interrogation on Sunday after he was admitted to a private hospital for treatment of wounds which doctors said appeared to have been self-inflicted.
He was handed over to local police after he took a lie-detector test and was thoroughly interrogated, the Crime Investigation Agency (CIA) said.
"The man will be released after he records a statement with the police," Dr. Soomro said, adding that four more suspects were arrested on Monday.
Fifteen women in the metropolis have been attacked since September 25 when the first incident was reported.
The suspect, who has posed quite a challenge to the authorities, remains at large, evading arrest and baffling authorities after a fresh spate of knife attacks on women, concentrated mainly in the Gulistan-e-Jauhar and Gulshan-e-Iqbal areas.
The police have numerous theories, including copycat attacks and an organised group operating within the city.
'Thin man, aged 20-29'
Karachi Police released pictures — screengrabs from the CCTV footage — of the suspect Saturday night, wherein the assailant can be seen riding a motorbike moments before attacking one of the victims.
Hunt for Karachi knife attacker handed over to CTD
The case that has left citizens questioning their safety was handed over to the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD). A case team is deployed to work on ways to capture the suspect, sources say.
Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah on Friday claimed that the suspect had been identified and was believed to be the same person who was behind similar attacks in Punjab’s Chichawatni area, where 50 women were injured in knife attacks over three years since 2013.
