KARACHI: Police on Monday claimed to have arrested two men and recovered weapons which they got on rent from malkhana, or storage of case properties.

Central SSP Malik Murtaza said that the Shahrah-i-Noor Jehan police conducted a raid near the Papost Nagar graveyard, arrested Shaharyar alias Masoom Bengali and Saeed and recovered weapons from their custody.

He said they had committed house robberies in Orangi Town and Surjani Town areas recently.

“Shaharyar was involved in a Rs60 million robbery in Hyderabad. He was arrested in the case and was sentenced to six years in prison. He got released from jail and started committing crimes again,” he added.

The SSP said that during initial interrogation they disclosed that a man provided them weapons from the City Court’s malkahana on rent. They identified that man as Khalil and said he charged Rs8,000 for one weapon, he added.

“Khalil also accompanied them in robberies,” he said, adding that if they got arrested, Khalil visited them in the police station concerned, posed them as their lawyer and arranged a ‘deal’.

He said that Khalil ordered the suspects to carry out recce of some officials coming to City Courts. They also conducted reccee of an officer of the K-Electric in district Central on his directions, the SSP said.

“Khalil was handed down death sentence but he was acquitted and released,” recalled the officer.

He said that other accomplices of the held suspects had “links with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-London”.

Published in Dawn, October 12th, 2021