Investigators claim to have made a major breakthrough in their probe into the targeted killing of acclaimed Sufi singer and qawwali maestro Amjad Sabri as police detained a close aide of the slain qawwal for questioning on Saturday.
Sabri was shot dead by two gunmen hardly a kilometre away from his home in the Liaquatabad neighbourhood of Karachi on Wednesday. Law enforcers, including Rangers and police, have rounded up more than 100 suspects, including workers of a political party, in a citywide swoop.
Investigators say they have detained a suspect with alleged links to Sabri’s killers. “We’ve made a major breakthrough in investigations. We will give good news soon,” a senior police official privy to investigations told.
Police also detained Saleem Chanda, a closed aide of the late qawwal who was travelling with him when the gunmen targeted his car. “Being a closed aide of Sabri, Chanda knew about all of his activities. The killers did not fire at him even though he was sitting next to Sabri,” said SHO Mohsin Zaidi.
Meanwhile, authorities asked law enforcement and intelligence agencies to name representatives for joint interrogation teams (JITs) being set up to investigate the killing of Amjad Sabri and kidnapping of Barrister Awais Ali Shah, the son of Sindh High Court’s chief justice. “Though the Sindh government has approved the summary for constituting JITs, we have asked the ISI, MI, IB, FIA, Rangers and others to name their representatives so that the JIT could be formed,” said a source in the Sindh home department.
