Daily Times

KARACHI: Law Enforcement Agencies have blocked the twitter account of Ansar-ul-Shariah Pakistan ASP which was operated by Dr Abdullah Hashmi, alleged commander of the organization, and was used for uploading the letters to claim the responsibly of attacks on police in Karachi.

Dr Abdullah Hashmi has revealed that the each group of ASP was comprised of 12 to 13 highly qualified students of various universities who are trained in camp of Sharawak region in Afghanistan, investigators claimed. Allegedly students of University of Karachi, NED University of Engineering and Technology, and Dawood University of Engineering and Technology were associated with the organization.

Investigations further revealed that Abdul Kareem Sarosh Siddiqui used most effective Armored-Piercing bullets (APs) in the attack on police guards of Khawaja Izhar-ul-Hassan on Eid day.

The investigators claimed that Dr Abdullah Hashmi has admitted to have made contacts with Al-Qaeda in Subcontinent’s Commander, Abdullah Baloch, for an alliance.

Abdullah Baloch, a commander of Al-Qaeda in Subcontinent (AQIS) and a main suspect of airport attack case, along with eight other including chief of the defunct Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Mullah Fazalullah and its then spokesman Shahidullah Shahid, were declared as proclaimed offenders with Malik Mumtaz Awan, Asim Shareef, Akhtar alias Plumber, Iqbal alias Thaikedar, Abdullah Baloch and Abdul Rasheed and the anti-terrorism court had issued non-bailable warrants for their arrest.

A recommendation has been forwarded for approval of Rs 5 million head money each on Mohammad Akbar and Abdullah Baloch.

According to the sources, Dr Abdullah Hashmi said in his statement that he set up the group two years ago and sought the help of Abdullah Baloch but he advised them to “work at their own”. The outfit started target killing of police in Karachi to prove its abilities. They also targeted Balochistan Levies, sources claimed.

Sarosh Siddiqui, the suspected mastermind behind attack on Khawaja Izhar, is a student of Karachi University and left Jaish-e-Mohammad in 2008. The accused used to dress in police uniform in a home in Sohrab Goth.

Abdullah Hashmi further revealed that Hasan, killing during an attack on Khawaja Izhar, used to give half of his salary to the outfit, and half to his family. Hasan’s mother is a doctor and his father is a professor, sources said adding that his family was not aware of his activities.

It has further been learnt that the workers of Ansar-al-Sharia used to get in touch with each other through WhatsApp, and important details were recovered from Hasan’s mobile phone which led to the arrest of eight group members.

Published in Daily Times, September 7^th 2017.