Alleged TTP militant caught ahead of Ashura

CID says it raided the area after a tip-off and managed to nab Haji Rehman.

KARACHI: Sindh police’s Crime Investigation Department (CID) declared it had arrested an alleged militant, belonging to Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Hafiz Saeed Orakzai group. CID (Operations) SSP Fayyaz Khan held a news conference at Garden police headquarters on Tuesday evening and informed the media that the suspect, Haji Rehman alias Kasai, was arrested from Sohrab Goth. The CID police raided the area after a tip-off and managed to nab Haji Rehman after an encounter.

“He [Haji Rehman] was a resident of Landhi Sherpao Colony and was arrested from Sohrab Goth, where he came to visit his aides,” said SSP Khan. “We have also found a hit list and maps of different places of worship from his possession,” he added. According to Khan, the names of several prominent Shia scholars, clerics, political leaders and government and non-government officials, intelligence and police officials are present on the list. He said that the militants also planned to attack offices of the government, intelligence agencies and the police department, including the CID.

The arrested militant confessed during initial interrogation that he belonged to the Hafiz Saeed Orakzai group of the TTP and planned to sabotage Muharram processions with the help of his accomplices. He also told the police that there are at least six more terrorists present in the city and two of them are suicide bombers, said SSP Khan. He assured that the CID is trying to locate the other militants and will capture them very soon.

The CID seized a huge cache of ammunition — 10 kilogram of explosives, three detonators, a hand-grenade, a roll of detonating cover, a Kalashnikov with 500 live rounds. “Haji Rehman is a hardcore terrorist and has been involved in several attacks in the Orakzai Agency, including those on law-enforcement agencies,” said SSP Khan.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 15^th, 2010.