Six police officials have been arrested in Pind Dadan Khan for allegedly having links with terrorists of who killed security personnel in the town’s Pir Chambal area a few days ago and are being interrogated, Pakistan Today has learnt.
The terrorist group led by Dr Arshad had killed four personnel of the Military Intelligence (MI), including a major and a civilian, on November 11 in Pir Chambal. Pir Chambal is a highly inaccessible mountainous area with dense forests in Salt Range, where the terrorists had reportedly taken refuge for over six month and had escaped from the area after killing the five security officials.
“ASIs Abdul Rehman and Zafarullah, constables Zulfiqar, Sadaqat, Atif and Tauseef are among the arrested people and they are being interrogated. They are suspected of having ties with the terrorists and details of their links have been retrieved from mobile phone data,” a source in police told Pakistan Today on condition of anonymity. Moreover, Pakistan Today also learnt from another source that Pind Dadan Khan DSP Chaudhry Zahid Parvaiz was suspended earlier for allegedly having ties with criminals and the services of SHO Chaudhry Sagheer were also handed over to Police Lines on similar charges. The source added that around 21 people had been arrested and all had been shifted to undisclosed location for interrogation. He said they included Asghar and Ghulam Rasool, a cousin and a brother-in-law of former parliamentary secretary and MPA Nazar Muhammad Gondal. Asked about other people having links with Dr Arshad and his group, the source said two men, Mohkam Din and Bilal were believed to be instrumental in helping the terrorists, but they had not been arrested so far. He said the house of Chaudhry Akram Phaphra, a close relative of slain Punjab governor Salman Taseer, had also been raided for him having ties with terrorists.
The source said it was impossible for terrorists to remain and operate in the area without local support, adding that evidence suggested that Bilal and Mohkam Din were helping Dr Arshad and his group carry out criminal activities, including kidnapping for ransom, in the area.
