Police has made a major breakthrough in the investigation of human rights activist Sabeen Mahmud’s murder.
Karachi police got footage of the alleged murderer who was in attendance at the seminar at The Second Floor (T2F) before Sabeen’s death, it emerged.
T2F Director Sabeen Mahmud was shot dead by unidentified armed assailants in Defence Phase-II when she was on her way back home after attending a seminar on missing persons of Balochistan on April 24.
Saad Aziz, Tahir Hussain Minhas alias Sain and Asadur Rehman alias Malik were remanded in police custody by an anti-terrorism court (ATC) for five days on June 10. The remand has been given in the four cases pertaining to the murders of Sabeen Mahmud and five policemen.
The police submitted a progress report in the investigation of the case to the ATC on June 15 and got an extension in remand of the three suspects till June 28 for further probe.
Saad Aziz, a prime suspect in Sabeen Mahmud murder case, in his confessional statement claimed that he along with his friend killed Mahmud for issuing derogatory remarks against Lal Masjid cleric Maulana Abdul Aziz and the Taliban.
He further veiled that he attended some sessions at the T2F and had been following her since a long time. He confessed that he killed the rights activist, near the Defence Central Library traffic signal on April 28, after attending a seminar titled Un-silencing Balochistan.
The police started gathering evidence to establish Aziz’s statement. The police first approached regular visitors and the T2F administration and questioned them about frequent visits of Aziz to the café. The cafe visitors and management told police that they never saw Aziz in T2F.
Later, the police sought recordings of seminars held prior to the killing of ex-T2F Director, especially that seminar which she was shot dead.
A Karachi police officer associated with the investigation of Sabeen’s murder case revealed that they got recording of a seminar in which Aziz could be seen. “We have recording of many programs held inside T2F prior to the murder of cafe’s former director Sabeen Mahmud,” the police officer said.
“We watched every recording repeatedly and caught Aziz in one of them,” he claimed. “Aziz claimed that he had attended the seminar after which he killed Mahmud, but he was nowhere in the recording of the discussion on missing persons of Balochistan,” the police officer said.
“However, we are utilizing all of our resources to prove his involvement behind this high-profile murder case,” he added.
Karachi South DIG Dr Jameel Ahmed appreciated the investigators for getting digital evidences against the prime suspect. “I want to investigate the suspect personally, but I am too busy in these days that I cannot spare time for it,” the DIG said.
