While changing his stance over the Khezai incident in which five armless Chechens, including three women, were killed on Wednesday, Quetta Capital City Police Officer Daud Junejo claimed the foreigners were terrorists and killed by a hand grenade hurled by one of their own accomplices.
He denied they were killed by firing of security forces.
Addressing a press conference at his office on Thursday, he said police followed the terrorists for about 45 minutes in the streets of Killi Khezai, adding that the Chechens ultimately reached a checkpost manned by Frontier Corps personnel and found no way to flee. He claimed that terrorists hurled hand grenades at the security forces and killed an official.
The CCPO said the driver of the vehicle in which the Chechens were travelling had been arrested and he had provided information leading to the sketches of two terrorists who managed to escape. He said eight passports, visa cards, telephone numbers in Russian language, mobile phones, SIM cards, two bags, Pakistani currency, 48 fuses, 60 detonators and explosives were recovered from their possession.
To a question, the CCPO said the terrorists were using their passports as permits and huge destruction would have been taken place in Quetta had they managed to enter the city. Meanwhile, about 150 residents of Killi Khezai who witnessed the episode protested outside the Quetta Press Club against the “killing of innocent people”.
The protestors chanted slogans against the Balochistan Frontier Corps and police and demands authorities concerned take action against those involved in the killing of unarmed foreigners. The speakers accused the police and FC personnel of killing the innocent persons after they failed to extort money from them.
They said the airport police extorted money from the foreigners and later informed other policemen for doing so, adding that the police also molested and harassed the women. The protestors said the FC soldier who died in the incident was killed by police firing.