Police claim arresting Imam's murderer

KARACHI: DIG Karachi West, Javed Odho has said that the police have arrested the accused involved in the murder of Qari Hassan Naseer, a prayer leader killed in a Karachi mosque earlier today (Wednesday).

Addressing a press conference, the DIG West said the alleged culprit was trying to flee from the scene after executing the murder but his motor cycle failed to start and he ended up being arrested.

He said the accused in the company of three accomplices entered the mosque and killed the Imam. Two of the accomplices managed to escape from the scene.

Javed Odho also told the reporters that the accused during initial interrogation confessed to following the target before executing him.

The accused also disclosed that the task of killing the target was assigned to him by the Taliban and admitted having connections in Waziristan. He also revealed that he received training for terror activities for 21 days in Mansehra before embarking on the mission.

The DIG West said the accused further disclosed that he received Rs15000 per month for his work. "The Imam had to be murdered as he began to leak information," the DIG quoted the accused as saying.

Earlier, the 40-year old prayer leader Qari Hassan Naseer was shot dead inside the mosque situated in New Karach.