CTD claims arrest of key facilitator in Peshawar's ATI terrorist attack

Nine people were killed when terrorists clad in burqas stormed the institute in December last year

PESHAWAR: A key facilitator involved in last year's terror attack on Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) in Peshawar, which left eight people dead and 23 injured, has been arrested.

"We [have] arrested the facilitator after we traced the auto rickshaw used in the attack," a senior police official told The Express Tribune.

The man, identified as Muhammad Ibrahim, is a resident of Tarangzai, Charsadda and was taken into custody from the Shah Alam area on the outskirts of the city.

The official said Ibrahim purchased the stolen vehicle and then sold it to the attackers. The rickshaw was used for the sole purpose to dodge investigators, he added.

"During interrogation, it was revealed that the suspect was involved in other terrorist attacks too," the official said.



Previously, police arrested a mechanic who identified the three-wheel vehicle, which was traced to the owner, but the owner had sold the vehicle days before the attack. Subsequently, authorities arrested the dealer who arranged the sale, which ultimately led them to Ibrahim.

Back on December 1, 2017, nine people were killed when terrorists clad in burqas stormed ATI in an attack reminiscent of a deadly assault on a university in Charsadda in 2016.

Over 32 people – among them a police sub inspector and two army soldiers – were also wounded in the assault claimed by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the outlawed umbrella of terrorist groups.