Police register terrorism case against driver in Karachi's DHA imambargah car crash

KARACHI: Police on Monday registered a terrorism case against the driver of a van that crashed into a tent of mourners outside an imambargah in Karachi’s Defence Housing Authority (DHA) a day earlier. A Suzuki pick-up had rammed into a tent outside an imambargah in Phase VI, where mourners were attending a Muharram majlis. It resulted in the death of a teenage girl and injured 19 other mourners. Three of the driver’s companions were also named in the first information report (FIR) registered on the complaint of the imambargah’s security head, South Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Syed Asad Raza said on Monday. The case has been transferred to the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) for investigation, added the senior officer. The DIG confirmed that a girl, identified as 14-year-old Zunaira Akram, was shifted to a private hospital on Sunday night but succumbed to her wounds. Sharing details of the incident, DIG Raza said that a Suzuki pickup approached the imambargah at about 9:30pm on Sunday. “Due to its excessive speed, the driver lost control of the vehicle and rammed through the security barriers installed approximately 200 meters from the imambargah for the security of the ongoing Majlis-i-Aza. After breaching the barriers, the vehicle entered the congregation area and intruded into the tent where the gathering was in progress. The vehicle struck several attendees, resulting in injuries to 20 mourners. The South DIG said the police immediately responded and shifted all injured persons to different hospitals for medical treatment. He recalled that police personnel and scouts had been deployed at the location as part of the security arrangements. The driver of the Suzuki pickup and his three companions, who had also sustained injuries and were under treatment at a hospital, have been taken into custody, DIG Raza confirmed. The senior officer further said the police promptly called the Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) to thoroughly examine the vehicle. CCTV footage and othe