Chilas attack probe: 22 students held in swoop on madrassas

Two whisked away to Gilgit, the rest released after questioning.

LAHORE: An intelligence agency has picked up at least 22 students of a seminary in Gujranwala to quiz them about the Chilas incident, The Express Tribune has learnt.

Among the detained students 20 were released after questioning while two have been shifted to Gilgit-Baltistan for further interrogation, sources said.

The action follows the arrest of the prime suspect of the murder of two Army officers and a police official from Kohistan. Hamidullah was accused of killing Colonel Ghulam Mustafa, Captain Ashfaq and SSP Diamer Hilal Ahmed on August 6.

The three were investigating the June 30 massacre of 10 foreign and one Pakistani tourist at the Nanga Parbat Base Camp in Diamer.

Operation

The intelligence agency officials, along with about 500 personnel of the local police and the Elite Force, descended on the two madrassas, Jamia Darul Aloom and Madrassa Anwarul Aloom in the wee hours of Sunday.

“The officials separated 22 students belonging to Chilas and other parts of Gilgit-Baltistan after checking their identities and took them away,” said the administrator of Jamia Mazharul Aloom Qazi Murad.

The Superintendent of Police (SP) City, Captain (retd) Liaquat Ali Malik headed the police team that went along with the intelligence agency’s officials for their security as well as to avoid any untoward incident.

He said that the contingent including six vehicles of Elite Force, SHOs of 30 police stations of Gujranwala encircled the seminaries to carry out the early morning raid.

The agency has raided these madrassas on the information Hamidullah, the chief of TTP Chilas chapter, gave during interrogation.

The madrassas’ records are being checked and tallied, while during the raid the agency personnel also searched rooms and asked the whereabouts of some suspects from the madrassa administration.

Qazi Murad said that there were no foreign students in these madrassas. “If the students are not released, we will protest,” Murad said.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 16^th, 2013.