Sakhi Sarwar attack: Interpol contacted for arrest of Ayaz Punjabi

Punjabi provided assistance to suicide bombers who attacked the shrine; reportedly fled to Dubai.

Border military police contacted Interpol on Tuesday through the Punjab Government for the arrest of Ayaz Punjabi who is accused of being involved in the Sakhi Sarwar shrine attack.  Punjabi provided assistance to suicide bombers who attacked the shrine as well as other terrorists to accomplish their missions. Punjabi fled to Dubai on an expired passport on April 14 from Karachi. Sources added that Punjabi is an important member of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and is wanted in an investigation of a suicide attack on Wadni Wala Imam Bargah in Dera Ghazi Khan. More than 50 devotees were killed and many other injured in two suicide attacks on Sakhi Sarwar shrine in Dera Ghazi Khan on April 3.

Earlier, the bombing mastermind involved in the blast at the Sakhi Sarwar shrine, TTP commander Behram Khan alias ‘Sufi Baba’, was handed over to the police on a ten day physical remand by a Anti-Terrorism Court in Dera Ghazi Khan.

Security agencies had arrested Khan from Bajaur Agency. The man was presented in court in DG Khan amid tight security.

According to officials, the accused had revealed that he came to DG Khan in December and had planned to bomb the shrine for over two months. Khan revealed that he was helped by Ayaz Punjabi, Ahmed Baloch and Zar Ali and that the suicide jackets he used were provided by locals.