In yet another attack on the franchise of a cellular service company, a receptionist and a security guard on Tuesday fell victim to the indiscriminate firing of unidentified assailants, who escaped after the attack as swiftly as they had arrived.
On December 23, two gunmen had walked into an outlet of the same mobile phone service in Shadman Town and shot dead two staffers, escaping after setting the office on fire. Then on January 2, two attackers had lobbed an explosive device at another franchise outlet near the Hyderi market, critically injuring two guards posted outside the office.
Tuesday’s incident took place near the Board Office Bus Stop in Block B, North Nazimabad where two armed men attacked a private cellular service franchise, gunning down two people and injuring two others. The bodies of the deceased and the injured men were shifted to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital (ASH).
The deceased were identified as Faiza, 26, wife of Zeeshan, and Mazhar, 45, son of Rafi Butt, while the injured men were identified as Mansoor and Waseem.
Police officials claimed that apparently the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) was involved in the attack.
North Nazimabad SHO Sajid Javed said that two unidentified men arrived outside the cellular service franchise near Board Office and opened indiscriminate fire. “A security guard standing outside the office and a female receptionist were shot dead, while another employee of the company, identified as Mansoor, and a customer named Waseem suffered bullet injuries,” he said.
The police officer claimed that one of the attackers was also injured by the firing of his accomplice. “The injured man managed to escape with the support of his accomplices, but left behind his TT pistol.”
The police have seized the TT pistol and a number of emptied shells from the spot.
He added that the franchise was closed until the investigations were completed.
“Faiza was working in the franchise as a receptionist and was a resident of North Nazimabad,” Javed said, adding that the attackers could not move inside the building as one of them was injured.
North Nazimabad SP Chaudhry Asad told Pakistan Today that the police have obtained the footage of the closed-circuit television cameras installed at the franchise.
“In the video recording, two young men aged 20 to 22, wearing shalwar kameez and khaki caps are seen disembarking from a white-coloured car. The attackers also fled in the same vehicle but one of them was seen injured with blood oozing from his body,” he said. “The attackers are also sporting light beards and their attire suggests they might be linked with some religious group, but it would be premature to fix the responsibility on any group.”
Police have recorded the statements of eyewitnesses and are trying to prepare the sketches of the attackers.
West Zone Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Imran Yaqoob linked the attacks on the franchises of the same cellular service company with the publication of blasphemous caricatures in Denmark a few years ago. “Muslims across the world condemned and protested the blasphemous cartoons published in the Scandinavian countries, but the militant groups are yet to forget the anti-Islamic act,” he claimed.
“Investigations into the previous attack on the company’s franchise had revealed the involvement of TTP,” Yaqoob said. “[Today’s] incident also bears many similarities with [the previous one].”
“Initial investigations suggest that the victims have no personal enmities and have no links with any religious or political parties and there is no other reason,” the DIG said. “The TTP may be involved but we can’t announce this until the investigations are completed.”
