The law enforcement agencies claimed to have foiled a major terrorism attempt after they arrested a suspected terrorist and seized a suicide jacket in the wee hours on Wednesday. Alleged terrorist Sardar Ali Khan Khattak, an employee of the Finance Ministry, was arrested from the Bari Imam area within the precincts of Secretariat Police Station.
He has confessed his involvement in a bomb blast near Malpure village. An official said police on a tip off raided Anwar Hotel at Aabpara a month back and arrested a person, who informed them about the presence of his accomplices in House No 74-A, Street No 78, Sector G-6/1-1 from where another five suspects were captured. During preliminary interrogation, it was revealed that Sardar Ali Khan Khattak had left for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to transport a suicide bomber, as they wanted to target a religious gathering on the eve of Jumatul Wida.
Khattak, a naib qasid in the Ministry of Finance, was presently availing a two-year leave, he added. Police also recovered a suicide jacket, one hand grenade, two pistols, bullets and foreign currency from his possession. Reuters adds: The terrorist was on a hilltop near President Asif Ali Zardari’s residence in Islamabad when apprehended. “He is being interrogated. He was wanted in connection with a bomb blast in Rawalpindi a few months ago,” police official Hakim Khan said. Police raided Khattak’s house last week and recovered a suicide vest and other explosives, police said.
Finance Ministry officials said Khattak was an office boy and had been on leave for the past two years, and that they had no knowledge about his alleged links to any militant group. The Anti-Car Lifting Cell (ACLC) arrested two car thieves and also recovered 80 kilograms explosive material from their vehicles at a checkpoint in Pind Parian within the Tarnol Police Station’s precincts.
A spokesman said policemen signalled two suspected cars (LHT136 and ST350 but the accused left the vehicles and tried to escape from the scene. Two of them succeeded in their attempt while police overpowered Shaukat Khan and Khalid Khan, residents of Peshawar. Eighty kilograms of explosives, hidden in the cylinders, and a 30 bore pistol were also recovered from their possession.
The two absconders are identified as Mohabat Khan and Asfandyar alias Zahid. Police have obtained a three-day physical remand of the accused from a local court while special teams have been constituted to arrest the remaining two persons. The accused had stolen a Toyota Corolla (ABW-727) owned by General Manager Embassy Lodge Qadir Bux from Bahar Colony and placed a fake number plate (ST350) on it while the registration book of the other car (LHT-136) has been found bogus.
