Karachi: Three held over fatal firing at DHA Independence Day stall

KARACHI: Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) for the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) Sindh Azfar Mahesar and SSP CTD Operations Irfan Bahadur held a press conference on Wednesday to announce the arrest of three terrorists involved in a firing incident on a stall set up to mark Independence Day in DHA Phase II, in which a young man was killed.

Mahesar said the action was carried out jointly with a federal intelligence agency, resulting in the arrest of three terrorists involved in the shooting near a stall selling national flags and buntings close to Sunset Boulevard. A young man named Aman was killed in the attack, gunned down by the terrorists in front of his wife and children, he said. A case was registered at the Defence police station; the victim, a resident of Korangi, had been at the stall for work, the DIG added.

Mahesar said the institutions launched a joint investigation, leading to the arrest of the suspects near the Korangi Causeway river on August 18 following an encounter. He identified the arrested terrorists as Zafar Sajjad and Faraz, from whom a pistol and hand grenade were recovered. Four cases have already been registered against the terrorists at CTD, with a fifth registered at the Defence police station, he said.

The suspects belong to the banned outfit Sindhudesh Revolutionary Army (SRA) and were assigned the task by a terrorist named Arsalan based abroad, the DIG said, adding that Arsalan Shah’s aim was to sabotage the Independence Day celebrations. Facilitators linked to the accused have also been traced, he said. According to Mahesar, arrested terrorist Sajjad Mallah conducted reconnaissance for the attack, after which the assailants arrived on two motorcycles and opened fire on the stall. “This is an Indian proxy that carries out terrorism on occasions like these,” he said, adding that the suspects could also be identified through CCTV footage.

SSP Bahadur said Arsalan Shah had sent money to the terrorists from abroad in the first week of August, and that the attackers carried out reconnaissance two days before opening fire on the stall. He said an Indian proxy is also behind SRA, whose objective was to create chaos on Independence Day, adding that the group had also been tasked with targeting law enforcement personnel and spreading fear during the national holiday. He vowed that the rest of the terror network would be dismantled soon.

Mahesar added that the stall was an easy target and was singled out for that reason, noting that through intelligence-based operations, 100 terrorists had been arrested and four killed.

Speaking more broadly on the security situation, Bahadur said terrorism incidents have decreased by 78%, crediting the achievement to the efforts of law enforcement institutions. He said the CTD has carried out more than 900 operations, resolving 80% of cases during 2026.

Mahesar said investigators are also working on an earlier attack on a CTD mobile unit and have obtained important information regarding that incident. He said different sleeper cells become active when carrying out sectarian target killings, but it would not be accurate to say that a gang active in the past has resurfaced. Terror financing cases have also been registered against facilitators of terrorists, he added, and authorities are already working on the case of Arsalan Shah, who they said would soon be arrested and brought back to the country.