CTD arrests 'TTP commander' in Karachi

Claims he had been planning attacks, making bombs at a house in Frontier Colony

KARACHI: A suspected terrorist, allegedly belonging to the banned outfit Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), was arrested by the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) in Karachi on Friday.

Hand grenades and other weapons were seized from his possession.

CTD Operation SP Malik Altaf revealed that the arrested suspect, Jan Alam, had taken up residence in a rented house in Karachi's Frontier Colony, where he had been planning terrorist activities and making bombs.

He further stated that Alam had been involved in two bomb blasts in the city, one at the Imambargah Azakhana-e-Kosar near Mominabad police station in 2013 and a hand grenade attack on the same police station in 2016.



Altaf disclosed that Alam had also left a motorcycle filled with explosives near Aisha Manzil in 2013, while being involved in attacks on Inspector Shafiq Tanoli, DSP Bahauddin Babar and Awami National Party (ANP) leader Bashir Jan as well as a blast at the grave of ANP's Ameer Sardar Ali in 2014. Alam was also allegedly involved in the murders of several police officials and ANP leaders, he added.

According to the CTD officer, law enforcement agencies had been searching for Alam for several years. He added that Alam had been trained in Afghanistan and was a commander of TTP's Mullah Fazalullah group after his predecessor Sher Bahadur was killed.

He stated that Alam was an expert in making pressure-cooker and motorcycle bombs, adding that he had confessed to several crimes, including extortion, during initial investigations.

CTD officials said that further interrogation of the suspect was being carried out.