Two held at capital airport, weapons seized

Rifle, shotgun, bullets, magazines, cartridges found in suspects' car at check post

RAWALPINDI:

The Airport Security Force (ASF) on Tuesday arrested two suspects and seized arms and ammunition found in their car that was entering the Islamabad International Airport (IIA) early Tuesday.

Officials said they had registered cases against the suspects who were later identified as Hamza Iftikhar and Shafqat Ali.

According to the officials, the suspects were intercepted by Airports Security Force (ASF) personnel at the check post at around 7am following which they found a rifle, 57 bullets, five magazines, a shotgun, six cartridges, two magazines and a jacket for storing ammunition in their car.

The officials said the suspects were taken into custody and immediately transferred to the control room where officials of all relevant agencies, including the ASF, interrogated them.

It was learnt during the interrogation that the arrested men hailed from Mandi Bahauddin. The suspects claimed that they had come to the airport to receive a relative, officials said, adding that they did not have weapons’ licenses with them.

After the interrogation, the suspects were handed over to the police for legal action.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 27^th, 2021.