Police arrest mastermind behind attacks on railways

Police survey the site of a railway line which was destroyed in an explosion in Karachi. Three people were injured when two small bombs damaged the tracks near the Baloch Colony bridge area. PHOTO: RASHID AJMERI/EXPRESS

KARACHI: Hyderabad police arrested the mastermind behind a recent spate of attacks on railway tracks across Sindh. There have been at least 16 explosions in one and a half months.

Investigator’s have also started a search operation to arrest the man’s accomplices. Speaking to the media at Police Line headquarters, DPO Munir Ahmed Sheikh confirmed the arrest of the alleged mastermind responsible for the explosions, but did not reveal his name.

Police had earlier conducted search operations in different areas after the blasts and had arrested 16 suspects. Twelve were released after preliminary investigations, while four others  were interrogated, out of which one was identified as the mastermind behind the attacks.

On Tuesday, two explosions took place near Hyderabad’s Udero Lal railway station. On Saturday, a blast on railway tracks near Kotri suspended rail services for a few hours. On Friday, 10 low-intensity explosions caused havoc at railway tracks across Sindh, from Setharja in Sukkur to Sindh.