SSP Aitzaz Ahmed Goraya during a press conference in Quetta on Friday. PHOTO: NASEEM JAMES/EXPRESS
QUETTA: Quetta police on Friday claimed that they had apprehended a man who had mastermind the Ziarat Residency attack.
“The mastermind was arrested during a raid in Hazar Ganji area on the outskirt of the provincial capital on Friday,” Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Operation Aitzaz Ahmed Goraya said during a news conference in Quetta.
He explained that officials had raided a compound following a tip-off. During the raid they arrested the Pukkar (Paku Marri).
Goraya said that Pukkar was among 15 terrorists who were involved in attacking the Ziarat Residency on June 15, 2013, adding that “During the interrogation the accused had confessed his crime.”
He further claimed that Pukkar was a wanted criminal and that Ziarat Police had been searching for him for a while.
SSP operations added that at least nine out of 15 accused of the attack have already been arrested.
Read: Culprits responsible for destroying 'Ziarat Residency' arrested: Asim Bajwa
Earlier in August, Inter Service Public Relations (ISPR) had issued a press note claiming the attackers responsible for destroying the national heritage building had been arrested.
Militants had broken into the Ziarat Residency on June 15, 2013, and filmed how they went through every room, destroying memorabilia before burning down the entire building.
Read: BLA claims attack on Jinnah residency in Ziarat
The attack had been claimed by the banned Baloch Liberation Army.
Last year on Independence Day, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif inaugurated the reconstructed Ziarat Residency. The reconstruction project was executed by prominent architect Nayyar Ali Dada at a cost of around Rs140 million and it was completed in a record time of five months.
Read: Ziarat Residency restored: Negative politics should end says PM
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