Karachi: Slain dacoit identified as BLA mastermind

[Naveed Yaseen]

KARACHI: A dacoit who was killed in an encounter with East Zone II Investigation Police on Sunday has been identified as Qurban Marri, a Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) mastermind.

Marri was wanted in a number of cases including the killings of intelligence and law enforcement personnel. SSP Choudhry Mohammad Aslam Khan said that Marri was killed during a police encounter on Sunday when his police squad raided Memon Goth.

Though four of his accomplices managed to flee, Marri was killed. Sources privy to the matter, on the condition of anonymity, told Daily Times that the deceased was associated with BLA and added that he was commanding BLA from Hub and its surrounding areas after the killing of Zahid Baloch alias Zahid BSO who was killed in Golimar, Rizvia area in November 2008. The source said that Marri was also operating BLA in Karachi and was a closed associate of Lyari gangster Rehman Dakait.

SSP Khan said that the deceased had been involved in several criminal cases including murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping, explosives, blasting electricity pylons in Hub and Karachi.

Sources also disclosed that the deceased had killed several officials and personnel of intelligence agencies including officials of Military Intelligence (MI) and other law enforcement agencies. One of Marri’s associate Hashim was arrested this year from Hub and is currently locked up in Gadani Jail, facing life imprisonment in a case of a bombing, in which Marri had been declared an absconder. SSP Khan further said that the families of victims, who were killed by Marri, identified him. He added that the case is being further investigated and the raids for his absconding companions are being carried out in the city.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp...009_pg7_33