Karachi
The involvement of a banned religious outfit in the assassination of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Member of Provincial Assembly (MPA) Raza Haider cannot be ruled out, and is an angle that is thoroughly being investigated, a senior investigation officer, on condition of anonymity, told The News.
The officer said that the incident took place at a mosque in Nazimabad No 2, which is a bastion of the MQM, and where security measures and surveillance are stringent in any case.
“The fact that armed assailants could enter such an area signifies that they were well-versed with the dynamics of target killings,” the officer said. “Moreover, the assailants were riding two 125cc motorcycles, which are normally used by the militant activists of a banned religious outfit. It is because of their modus operandi that the police suspect the involvement of a banned religious outfit.”
The officer added that since the past few weeks, MPA Haider was receiving death threats by a banned religious outfit. “The MPA came into the open, to attend a funeral of another MPA’s relative, and that provided an opportunity to his assailants,” he said.
The officer added that different eyewitnesses accounts have already been recorded, but the narrative is not the same in these statements. “One eyewitness claimed that there was a Vitz car accompanying the motorcyclists, while another said that a four-wheeler was there,” he explained. When the police tallied the registration number of the four-wheeler in their records, they found that the number had actually been given to a Suzuki car.