Caught: CID arrests five suspects from ‘Punjabi Taliban’ group

The men confessed to have killed seven suspects including a police constable.

KARACHI: The authorities claim to have arrested five militants from the ‘Punjabi Taliban’ group on Saturday. They seized two suicide jackets, 145 kilogrammes of explosives, six detonators, 23 rockets grenades, three Kalashnikovs, a 9mm pistol, 10 kilogrammes of fertiliser and detonating wires from them.

Officials from the Crime Investigation Department (CID) of the Sindh Police identified the suspects as Alauddin alias Shakirullah, Farhan Khan alias Ali, Amir Shahzad alias Mufti Asadullah, Irfan alias Mavia and Shah Jahan alias Adnan Munna.

While speaking to the media, Additional IG CID Ghulam Shabbir Sheikh and SP Mazhar Mashwani said that Alauddin was the chief of the Punjabi Taliban group in Sindh. They added that the group was led by Ustad Aslam.

According to Sheikh, they conducted a raid on the National Highway near a thermal factory in Shah Latif Town on a tip-off. He said that the suspects were targeting high profile judges, police officers and government officials.

SP Mashwani said that Alauddin was arrested while his accomplices threw a hand grenade and managed to escape in an attempted bank robbery in 2010 in Orangi Town. He added that Alauddin’s accomplices managed to escape from police custody and went to Punjab. The police officer said that the suspect received Rs1.7 million to do some work in Sindh.

The suspects confessed to have killed seven suspects including a police constable in Hyderabad. The police said that they would share more details with the media later.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 1^st, 2012.