PESHAWAR(National Times)- Senior police officials on Thursday claimed that suspects in the Dr Asif Malik gun attack case had been identified and would soon be arrested.

“We have traced the persons who opened fire on urologist Dr Malik. They have been identified and we are closing in on them,” a senior police official told Dawn.

He said that the motive behind the attack was still not known and the further details of the case would be made public after the suspects were arrested and interrogated.

Urologist Dr Malik was reported to be in stable condition at a hospital after coming under fire close to his residence in the University Town area here on Tuesday night.

After the attack, Dr Malik, a pioneer of kidney transplantation in the province, was shifted to the Peshawar General Hospital by his driver and remained under treatment in the intensive care unit. His condition is said to be stable.

On Wednesday, senior police officials claimed that the “Dr Malik attack case has almost 80 per cent been concluded.”

An official told Dawn requesting anonymity that investigators obtained all relevant CCTV footage.

“The attackers chased Dr Asif Malik in a car. They also changed the car’s registration number,” he said. The official said it appeared that someone who was “close to Dr Malik or closely knew him” was involved.

Sources close to Dr Malik said that the urologist, who performed surgeries until late night at the hospital, would always travel alone.

“Even after being injured in the attack, Dr Malik drove his car to home from where his driver immediately took him to the hospital,” a relative disclosed.

In a statement, the City Police said that an investigation team had seized three empty bullet shells of a 30-bore pistol from the attack site. They said that a case had been registered on behalf of the urologist.