KARACHI: Three more women have been stabbed and injured by the ‘knifeman’ in the vicinities of Aziz Bhatti and Shahrah-e-Faisal police stations in Karachi on Wednesday, bringing the official number of victims to nine, a police spokesperson said.
Fear and panic prevail among the residents of the area as police authorities fail to arrest ostensibly a lone-attacker who has been on a stabbing spree since last week in Gulistan-e-Johar and adjoining areas.
The latest attacks come after the Karachi East Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Sultan Ali Khawaja earlier announced that police officials were deployed in at least 30 points in Gulistan-i-Johar along with decoy teams in order to prevent the attacks and arrest the culprit.
According to the police, a woman was stabbed near Millenium Mall in the Gulistan-i-Johar and another woman was attacked at Aziz Bhatti Park in Gulshan-e-Iqbal. Both attacks occurred in the jurisdiction of the Aziz Bhatti police station. A third woman was attacked in Gulshan-e-Jamal that falls under the Shahrah-e-Faisal police station.
According to sources, Additional Inspector General (AIG) Mushtaq Ahmed Mahar said that the police have gathered some clues and will catch the culprit with the help of technical surveillance. Repeating the DIG’s statement, Mahar said that the attacker was probably suffering from psychological problems.
He said that so far, 10 attacks had taken place, however, only nine were reported to the police. “We don’t deny that these incidents are taking place but it is our request to the media not to blow these events out of proportion,” the AIG added.
He also pointed out that similar attacks had taken place in Faisalabad and Rawalpindi. “By giving extra coverage to these incidents, the attacker has gotten cheap publicity and possibly encouragement to commit more attacks,” he highlighted.