KARACHI: Police in the southern Pakistani province of Sindh are “actively” working to catch the killers of Saudi diplomat Hassan Al-Qahtani, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah said this week about a 2011 murder case whose main suspects Pakistani investigators believe are hiding in neighboring Iran.
Al-Qahtani, an employee of the Saudi consulate in the southern port city of Karachi, was killed on May 16, 2011, after gunmen opened fire on his car in the city’s Defense Housing Authority area.
In January this year, a Counter Terrorism Department official told Arab News Pakistan had requested of Iranian authorities assistance to arrest three main suspects — Ali Mustehsan, Raza Imam and Syed Waqar Ahmed — believed to be on the run from Pakistan and hiding in the neighboring country.
According to a police report seen by Arab News, Pakistani officials believe the assassination was masterminded by a group called Al-Mehdi. No public information is available about the outfit.
“We are actively pursuing the case and the Saudi mission in Islamabad is being updated on the progress on a regular basis,” a spokesperson for the chief minister of the Sindh province said in a statement to Arab News.
“The case is being taken up on high priority and police are actively working on it while keeping Saudi authorities in the loop.”
Four people riding motorcycles opened fire on the Saudi diplomat’s car. The envoy, a low-ranking security official, was on his way to the consulate when the assailants struck.
The shooting, which occurred about 60 meters from the Karachi consulate, came days after unidentified attackers threw two hand grenades at the consulate in Pakistan’s commercial hub. No one was hurt in that attack.
A police officer with direct knowledge of the murder investigation told Arab News that a senior superintendent of police had met with a Saudi team of investigators in Islamabad on Oct. 17 and informed them that the prime suspects in the murder were hiding in Iran. Officials of the Sindh CTD then held a meeting with the Saudi investigation team at the Kingdom’s consulate in Karachi on Oct. 20 and presented a progress report.
In October, Pakistani Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah also met a Saudi delegation and informed them about progress in the investigation, promising that “all resources” would be utilized to arrest the culprits.
The investigation, since November 2021, was being overseen by a special team led by CTD chief Omar Shahid Hamid, but a new team was formed in October this year under senior CTD official Raja Umar Khattab, “keeping in view the diversity, seriousness and complexity of investigation required.”
Imam, alias Manzar, has a 1-million-rupee ($13,400) bounty on his head and has already been sentenced to death in two different cases, according to a Sindh police most wanted list. Iman and Mustehsan are believed to be members of the banned Sipah-e-Muhammad Pakistan militant organization. It was designated a terrorist organization in Pakistan 2002 and is also classified as a foreign terrorist organization under US law.
Ahmed, the third suspect, is believed to belong to a group called Al-Mehdi, according to a police report seen by Arab News.
No public information is available about the group.
