• CTD Khattab official says that non -compliance with justice can be emboldened to other militant groups
• The defense lawyer states that there is no concrete evidence against his clients; Alleges that they faced abuse during the interrogation
Karachi: A decade after the Goth Sofoora Goth bus attack that killed 47 members of the Chiíta Community Ismaili, the anti -terrorist official who arrested the terrorist gang expressly expresses concern for excessive delay in executing his sentence, warning that the failure to deliver justice to the families of the victims could be able to see similar militant groups.
Meanwhile, the lawyer of the five convicts convicted of death by a military court in 2016 says that he has been representing his clients before the Superior Court, arguing that they were not given a fair trial.
On May 13, 2015, a group of armed militants broke into a bus that transported members of the Chiíta Ismaili community near Safoora Goth, opened indiscriminate fire, killing 47, including 18 women and hurting another six.
A few days later, a team from the Dajatrorismo Department (CTD), headed by Raja Uumer Khattab, had arrested five militants: Tahir aka Minhas aka Sain, Saad Aziz alias tin tin, Hafiz Nasir Ahmed, Mohammad Azhar ishrat and Asad Rehman. It was said that they were inspired by the group of the Islamic militant state (IS), and involved in multiple incidents of specific murders.
In 2016, a military court had sentenced them to death in the case of Safoora bus carnage. However, 10 years after the attack, the case against militants has not yet reached a logical conclusion due to their pending hearing appeals before the Superior Court.
Speaking with Dawn, Mr. Khattab has expressed concern that the failure to deliver justice could be emboldened to other militant groups of related ideas, warning that he could lead to a serious crisis.
He questioned why, even after a decade, the prayers had not been implemented.
Khattab fears that the delay in executing his sentence can allow his accomplices in other militant groups to plan their liberation by orchestrating a hostage crisis.
He is convinced that these militants would represent a serious threat to society, witnesses, those who imprisoned them and their families if they ensure their release. He believes that executing his prayers would have neutralized this threat.
Remember the success in the dismantling of the militant group
Remembering how he managed to track the militant group, Khattab said he had visited the crime scene, where he found a crucial advantage during the search, an advantage that he had been looking for for a long time, which finally took him to the leader of the militant group, Tahir Sain.
“I was inside the bus, and due to the blood spilled everywhere, I slipped and that was when my hand landed in the leadership I had been looking for for a long period,” Khattab recalled, and added that it was through this leadership that ensured the participation of a specific group in this incident.
The CTD official revealed that before the incident, the terrorist groups had been under surveillance for years, during which several militants were arrested and valuable information was obtained.
He said that the intelligence gathered indicated that an Al Qaeda local wing was operating in Gulistan-i-Jauhar, where young men were involved in translation work for propaganda purposes and were also involved in the preparation of improvised explosive devices (FDIs).
When asked how they discovered that the local group of the SI was involved in several terrorist activities in Karachi, Khattab said they had been monitoring a suspect in the Banaras area, but could not stop him while he managed to flee.
However, while looking at home, they removed a wall frame and found a hole engraved on the wall. While eliminating the tape, there was a USB impulse that contained a video, revealing that the local militants of Al Qaeda planned to declare themselves as the local chapter of the IS.
He stressed that after the disappearance of the alleged militant, IED attacks in Karachi stopped for some time. However, a few months later, the members of the Bohra community were attacked in the Dhoraji area, where, for the first time, a brochure was found with the name of Daesh, the Arab acronym for IS, in the crime scene.
He recalled that a series of terrorist activities began, including specific attacks against the agencies of application of the law, a private school, American educator Debra Lobo, the rights activist knows Mahmud and finally the Sofoora Goth Bus carnage.
Khattab revealed that during the planning of the Safora Goth massacre, internal disagreements between the militants emerged, and some suggest that the victims caught fire after being killed. However, since it was going to be the first attack against the community of Ismaili, that part of the plan was finally suspended, he added.
He said the group planned to attack some fashion designers in the metropolis, but failed when they were caught by the CTD.
My clients denied a fair trial: the main lawyer of defense lawyer Hashmat Habib has been representing the five convicted after a military court condemned them to death in 2016.
He submitted five identical requests, which are still pending before the Sindh Superior Court.
In the applications, the lawyer Habib said that there was no concrete evidence against his clients, who allegedly faced abuse during the interrogation.
He also declared that the defendants were denied a fair trial and were not allowed to involve a defense lawyer of their election at the time of the trial by a military court.
Posted in Dawn, May 13, 2025
