Law and order: Five more men linked to Church attacks nabbed: Khanzada

They are believed to be involved in Qila Gujjar Singh Police Lines and Model Town FIA building attacks.

LAHORE: Home Minister Col (r) Shuja Khanzada said on Tuesday that the police had arrested five men who were believed to be involved in planning and execution of several terrorist attacks in the province.

Besides the suicide attacks at two churches in Youhanabad and the police lines in Qila Gujjar Singh earlier in the year, Khanzada said the suspects were also believed to be responsible for the 2010 attack at the headquarters of an investigation agency in Model Town.

Addressing a press conference, he said during interrogation the suspects had admitted to being associated with the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Shehyar Mehsud group. He said the suspects had told the police that they received financial support from people based in India. “They also disclosed information about terrorist attacks planned for future in Lahore and Karachi,” he said. He said among the targets mentioned by the suspects were government buildings, major markets and noted politicians.

The home minister expressed satisfaction at pace of work on the National Action Plan in the province. He said police and other law enforcement agencies were seeking assistance from the inter-services intelligence (ISI) where needed.

He said efforts to crackdown on terrorist outfits were being carried out in coordination with other law enforcement agencies working in Karachi and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).

Khanzada said that the suspects had revealed that the three attacks were planned in Afghanistan. “They said the equipment used in the attacks was collected from people based in Waziristan,” he said.

He said Shehryar Mehsud group was a breakaway faction of the TTP. “The group has contacts in India. It receives funds from them and reports to them about its terrorist activities in the country,” he said.

He identified one of the suspects as Sanaullah, a Punjab resident. He said Sanaullah was trained in making suicide jackets and fitting explosive material in vehicles. The other four were identified as Qari Ilyas, Khalid Zaman (alias Taj Ali),

Imran Mehsood and Sheikh Qanoon. Khanzada said Ilyas and Zaman had approached Sanaullah and asked him to prepare suicide jackets for the people who had later attacked Youhanabad churches. He said the three men had met at the Tableghi Jamaat centre in Raiwind in this regard. He said that the jackets were made at a room rented in Chungi Amar Sidhu. He said the rental agreement for the room was signed in the name of Waqas, a resident of Bahawalnagar. However, He did not clarify the link between Waqas and Sanaullah.

He said two accomplices of the suspects were believed to have fled to Afghanistan. They were identified as Asarud Din, a resident of South Waziristan, and Rana Sajid, a resident of Bahawalnagar.

The minister said they were trying to track down the two men with assistance from law enforcement agencies in Afghanistan.

Responding to a question about frequent reports of use of the Tableeghi Jamaat Raiwind headquarters by terrorism suspects, the minister said it was difficult to monitor the movement of all visitors to the headquarters. “People from across the world visit the place. It is not possible to check everyone,” he said. However, law enforcement agencies had been asked to improve surveillance at the headquarters.

IGP reviews security measures

Security personnel will remain on high alert and search operations will continue across the province, Inspector General of Police Mushtaq Ahmad Sukhera said on Tuesday.

He was speaking through a video link at a conference of regional police officers.

Establishment Addl IGP Nasimul Zaman, Operations Addl: IGP Capt (r) Arif Nawaz, Legal Affairs Addl IGP Ali Zulnorain, Lahore CCPO Capt (retd) Amin Wains, Headquarters DIG Farooq Mazhar, Establishment-I DIG Azhar Hameed Khokhar, Establishment-II DIG Nawaz Warraich, Operations DIG Haider Ashraf, Discipline AIG Inam Waheed and Legal Affairs AIG Kamran Adil were also present at the occasion.

The IGP directed officials to continue snap checking of vehicles to catch people using blue lights, green number plates or tinted glasses on their vehicles without authorisation.

The conference also decided to start a fresh crack down on people facilitating hardened criminals and terrorists in their activities. It decided that implementation of the standard operating procedures (SOP) devised for security of minorities and their worship places should be ensured. Further, officials were directed to ensure fool-proof security measures for Chinese experts working on various government projects in the province.

Field officers were directed to monitor security arrangements at banks on a daily basis. They were also asked to monitor the performance of patrolling police teams in their areas and to arrange inspection visits to police stations in their areas at least twice a month.

The conference also decided to arrange a fire safety training course for security staff at banks.

The conference further decided that campaign to arrest proclaimed offenders should be reviewed to ensure that there were no delays in the process.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 5^th, 2015.