KARACHI AUG 13 (TNS): A forensic examination of spent bullet casings collected from the crime scene after the killing of a DSP Traffic along with his driver on Saturday confirmed that the same weapon had been used earlier in a fatal attack on four policemen in June.
Police officials investigating the killing of DSP Traffic Hanif Khan and his driver, constable Sultan Ishtiaq, in Azizabad on Friday morning believed that the assailants in both the attacks were the same.
“The same group appeared to be involved in both the incidents, as the police’s forensic division has confirmed that the same 9mm pistol was used in these attacks,” said SSP Munir Ahmed Shaikh of the Counter-Terrorism Department of police.
The responsibility for the two gun attacks had already been claimed by Ansarul Sharia Pakistan (ASP), a recently formed militant group, as per the pamphlets found at the crime scenes.
Meanwhile, the police registered a case against unidentified suspects for the murder of DSP Khan and Constable Ishtiaq under Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1997.
“From their modus operandi, ASP members seemed to be highly trained and educated,” said Additional IG Sanaullah Abbasi who heads the CTD in Sindh. The department suspected that elements returning from Syria had formed this group.
“Elements dissociating from Lashkar-i-Taiba and Jaish-i-Mohammad may have joined this group,” apprehended AIG Abbasi. The CTD assessment showed that ideologically, the ASP claimed to be a new and independent group that did not owe its allegiance to either Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent or the militant Islamic State group.
“The ASP’s modus operandi is to go after soft targets affiliated with the security services,” said the CTD chief. In their pamphlets, AIG Abbasi said, the group had stated that they would continue to attack security forces personnel who “prop up a corrupt system.”
