Additional Inspector General (AIG) Karachi Mushtaq Maher on Thursday said that 16 suspects had been arrested in relation to the knife attacks on women in Gulistan-e-Jauhar area of Karachi.

Last week, fear gripped residents of Gulistan-i-Jauhar area after reports surfaced of a ‘knife attacker’ targeting women in the area.

Subsequently, the police had launched a manhunt and an investigation into the motivation and identity of the attacker.

Three First Information Reports (FIRs) were registered ─ two at the Shahrah-i-Faisal police station and one at the Gulistan-i-Jauhar police station ─ on the complaint of three women who said that they had been attacked by a lone "knife-wielding" motorcyclist.

Police arrested 15 suspects on Wednesday night and another key suspect on Thursday, the AIG said.

A report of the incidents was also submitted before Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah who had taken notice of the attacks last week.

“What is happening and why the police have failed to arrest the culprit?” the chief minister had asked, adding that the attacks appeared to be a move to trigger fear and chaos in the metropolis.

The CM announced a reward of Rs0.5 million for any person who could point out the attacker.

On Wednesday night, four women were stabbed and injured by the "knifeman" in the vicinity of Aziz Bhatti and Shahrah-e-Faisal police stations, bringing the official number of victims to 10, according to police.

One woman was stabbed near Millenium Mall in the Gulistan-i-Jauhar area; the second was attacked at Aziz Bhatti Park in Gulshan-i-Iqbal; third woman was attacked in Gulshan-i-Jamal; while the fourth incident was reported in Gulshan-i-Iqbal, where a 13-year old girl was stabbed, sustaining minor stab wounds on her back.

Investigations into the attacks are still underway, police said.