Bomber’s call traced to neighbouring country

The man accused of being the mastermind of the Saddar bomb blast had been arrested earlier for a bomb blast on railway track, said Sindh Government Spokesman Murtaza Wahab on Thursday, appealing judiciary to practice restraint in granting bail to terror suspects.

“Allah Dino, slain in an encounter with the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) was the main accused in Saddar bomb blast. He had been arrested earlier in a case of anti-state activities but managed to secure bail from the court,” Wahab said at a press conference at the CTD’s office at the Police Headquarters in the Garden area.

Additional IG CTD Imran Yaqub Minhas, DIG CTD Khurram Ali, CTD in charge Mazhar Mashwani and other officers concerned were also present on the occasion.

Wahab said that according to CTD report two terrorists of a banned outfit, Sindh Revolutionary Army (SRA), reportedly involved in the bomb blast in Saddar area were killed in the operation and two terrorists were arrested and explosives and weapons were recovered.

As per the available evidence, Allah Dino was in telephonic contact with Asghar Shah of SRA and the calls were traced to Iran, he said. However, it does not mean that the government and the people of the neighbouring country were involved in the act in any way, he said.

“While searching for the terrorists involved in the bomb blast in Saddar area of Karachi, three persons were traced who were transporting explosives and other equipment to a safe place on the instructions of the commander of the terrorist group within 500 Quarter Road, Mochko police station,” he said.

They were intercepted by the law enforcers on which the accused on motorcycles opened fire on the police party. As a result of retaliatory firing, two terrorists were killed and one escaped.

Wahab claimed that the dead terrorists were residents of Tharparkar district of Sindh and had received bomb-making training from Iran. They were also involved in destroying railway tracks in different districts of Sindh.

CTD DIG Khurram Ali also played the recording of the phone call between Asghar Shah and Allah Dino. He said that Allah Dino was a resident of Umerkot and an expert in making IEDs. Allah Dino had acquired training from a terrorist camp in a neighboring country. On the day of the incident, Allah Dino rode his bicycle for more than five kilometers and reached the spot, parked his bicycle and sat down at the hotel.

He pressed the remote when the targeted Coast Guard mobile came to the spot and fled. Later he took a rickshaw and headed to Gizri where he was living with his cousin and facilitator Nawab. There was also evidence of Allah Dino receiing Rs175,000 from a source in Iran.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 20^th, 2022.