Police grill man injured in Karachi knife attack

KARACHI: Police took a man into custody on Sunday who claimed to have been "injured in an attack" by a knife-wielding suspect in Karachi a day ago.

The injured man, Noman, claimed on Saturday to have been attacked by the a knife-wielding motorcyclist, but later told the police that he had been hit by a rod.

"The man has been put through a lie-detector test and investigations are underway," said Sultan Khawaja, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) East.

The suspect's appearance fits the description of the knife-wielding criminal issued earlier by the police.

According to doctors who treated the injured man, his wounds indicate self-injury, sources told Geo News.

"We have arrested four new suspects in different raids across the city," Khawaja said.  

The attack is closely timed with a series of similar incidents in Karachi's Gulistan-e-Jauhar, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, and Gulshan-e-Jamal vicinities.  

Fifteen women in the metropolis have been attacked — since September 25 when the first incident was reported — by a knife-wielding lone wolf.

The suspect, who has posed quite a challenge to the authorities, remains at large, evading arrest and baffling authorities after a fresh spate of knife attacks on women, concentrated mainly in Gulistan-e-Jauhar and Gulshan-e-Iqbal areas.

The police have numerous theories including copycat attacks and an organised group operating from within the city.

'Thin man, aged 20-29'

Karachi Police released pictures — screengrabs from the CCTV footage — of the suspect Saturday night, wherein the assailant can be seen riding a motorbike moments before attacking one of the victims.

"The suspect appears to be a thin man, aged 20-29," DIG East Sultan Khawaja said, adding that "he appears to be 5 feet, 7-9 inches tall" and usually rides a red motorcycle.

Hunt for Karachi knife attacker handed over to CTD

The case — which has left citizens questioning their safety — has been handed over to the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) that has deployed a case team to work on ways to capture the suspect, sources say.

Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah on Friday claimed that the suspect had been identified and was believed to be the same person who was behind similar attacks in Punjab’s Chichawatni area, where 50 women were injured in knife attacks over three years since 2013.