KARACHI, Nov 20: The suspected mastermind of a grenade attack on the Saudi consulate general in Karachi died at a local hospital from bullet wounds he sustained during an armed encounter in Gulistan-i-Jauhar on Sunday, police said.

Crime Branch SSP Farooq Awan told Dawn that the police arrested three suspects on Sunday morning within the remit of the Eidgah police station.

The suspects — Zaki alias Mustafa, Mohsin and Mohammad Ali Kazmi — allegedly belonging to the ‘Mehdi force’ disclosed their involvement in the Saudi consulate grenade attack and other sectarian killings. Three pistols and an AK-47 assault rifle were seized from them.

The SSP said that suspect Zaki told the police about a fourth suspect, Asif Manu, said to be the mastermind of the grenade attack on Saudi consulate general in Karachi.

Acting on the information, a police team raided a hideout in a residential complex, Rabia City, in Gulistan-i-Jauhar to arrest him. However, the suspected mastermind opened fire on the police and tried to escape. An encounter ensued and during theexchange of fire, the suspect suffered bullet wounds and was shifted to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for treatment,the SSP said, adding that the wounded suspect died in the hospital.

The police said a computerised national identity card was seized from the suspect and the name written on the document was Syed Tabish Husain.

“It is not clear if the CNIC is real or fake, as we know him as Asif Manu,” SSP Awan said.

The grenade attack was carried out at the Saudi consulate in the Defence Housing Authority in May.

CID man gunned downUnidentified assailants shot dead a policeman, who was posted at an anti-terrorism department of the Sindh police, near Essa Nagri on Sunday evening, police said.

They said 34-year-old Constable Sanaullah was standing at the Essa Nagri bus stop when two men riding on a motorcycle emerged there and shot him from a close range.

The armed men fled the scene following the shooting. The wounded victim was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Aziz Bhatti SHO Kanson Dean said the police constable was posted in the CID and lived nearby the place of the incident.

The body was shifted to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for a post-mortem examination. The victim was posted at the Anti-Extremist Cell of the CID, which is headed by SP Chaudhry Aslam who recently survived a suicide attack.