A senior district administration official said two armed men riding a motorcycle intercepted Khurshid Anwar's car near Nai Chongi on the main Dera-Bannu road and sprayed bullets on the inmates, killing the TJP leader, his daughter and an escorting police gunman. Khurshid's wife also received a deep wound on the arm when hit by a flying glass. Her condition is reported to be out of danger.
"This appears to be a terrorist attack and may have a sectarian angle to it as well. But we are not ruling out anything and are continuing our investigations," Deputy Commissioner, Dera Tariq Jameel told The News. Police said Khurshid was driving his daughter, a first year student, to college when ambushed at around 7.30 am. The Kalashinkov-brandishing assassins made good their escape. Another man, said to be an accomplice, had also been spotted with the two assailants before the attack, raising the total number of assailants to three.
A senior police official said that all three had been identified and a brother of one of the accused had been picked up for interrogation. He said that a motorcycle had also been recovered from the house of one of the accused which appeared to have been used in the incident. "The motorcycle used in the incident did not bear a registration plate and the one recovered from the house of one of the accused also did not have a registration number," the official said. The three accused nominated in the FIR are Islamuddin, president of local chapter of Sepah-i-Sahaba Pakistan, Saifur Rehman Bangash, general secretary and Abdur Raziq. Police said that raids were being conducted to arrest them.
The news of Khurshid's murder spread like a jungle fire and according to the district administration officials, Shia youngsters immediately went on a rampage in the predominantly Shia north-eastern part of Dera city. The police also reported incidents of aerial firing but said that there were no casualties. Additional police force backed by the Frontier Constabulary and the Frontier Corps was rushed to control a seemingly volatile situation. Armoured Personnel Carriers were also pressed into motion to patrol sensitive trouble spots and guard mosques and imambarghas. "There is considerable tension but the situation by and large is under our control," the official said.
Shias gathered at a local hospital where Khurshid's body was brought for postmortem, attacked a few shops, pelted stones and raised slogans to give vent to their anger over the ghastly murders. Angry TJP workers also blocked the Circular Road and the Dera-Bannu road for some time. Mourners accompanying the funerals of TJP leader and his daughter later in the afternoon attacked two arms stores in Masud Market and looted weapons of non-prohibited bore including pistols, revolvers and shotguns. "We are in touch with the Shia elders and are scheduled to hold a meeting with them today (Wednesday) to defuse the situation," the official said.
Hundreds of wailing women also gathered at Koti Imam and raised slogans against the government, the district administration and the Sepah-i-Sahaba. Dera city has been the scene of sectarian strife and tension. An activist of Sipah-i-Sahaba Khalid was killed when a procession was fired upon on August 19. The situation worsened when his funeral cortege came under firing the following day.
Tension gripped the town and angry TJP activists took to the streets and burnt six shops of the Sipah-e-Sahaba. Some people burnt a newspaper stall near a police station in Toopanwala area. They put on fire tyres and blocked roads. Divisional president of TJP Ghulam Abbas registered an FIR, naming three SSP leaders. They are Islamuddin, Saifulla Bangash and Abdur Razaq. According to the FIR, the three SSP leaders killed the TJP secretary-general allegedly on the directives of SSP's provincial president Khalifa Abdul Qayyum.
Killer of TJP leader surrendersPESHAWAR: One of the three accused in the murder of TJP leader Khurshid Anwar surrendered before the district administration on Thursday as life limped back to normalcy in the troubled city of Dera Ismail Khan.
The accused Islamuddin, district president of Sepah-i-Sahaba Pakistan, surrendered to the authorities at about 7.00 pm. "We have not given any assurances except that justice will be done and the interrogation will be fair and impartial", Deputy Commissioner Dera Tariq Jameel told The News.
He hoped that the other two accused still at large would also surrender in the next few days. The three had been directly named in the FIR with one Javed Shah claiming to have seen them spraying bullets on Khurshid's car, killing the TJP central secretary general along with his daughter and police gunman. Islamuddin would be handed over to the police for questioning with reference to his involvement in the case.
In an apparently related development, the police arrested one Amir Ma'awaia from a flying coach on the Dera-Bannu road and recovered a hand grenade from his possession. The police suspects that he may have some connection with the triple murder case.
Meanwhile, life returned to normalcy in Dera Ismai Khan city where shops and markets were opened amid continued strict vigilance by the law enforcing agencies. Police and militia continued patrolling the sensitive parts of the city. Meanwhile, the Shia community on Thursday observed the death anniversary of those killed in village Ustrana in police firing on September 30, 1988.