Terrorists’ facilitator: Naib qasid at large finally netted

Finance division employee arrested for terrorist links; weapons smuggling bid foiled by police.

ISLAMABAD:

A government employee, suspected of planning a suicide attack in the city, was arrested by the security agencies, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said in a media briefing on Sunday. His four accomplices, all members of a terrorist outfit based in Mohmand Agency, were arrested from Islamabad last month and a suicide jacket was recovered.

The media briefing was on the seizure of a huge cache of arms and ammunition by the Islamabad police.

“Terrorists have been trying to carry out attacks in Islamabad over the past few months, but fortunately, coordinated efforts by our security agencies always foil them,” said the interior minister. “The recent seizure of arms and the arrest of the terrorist is an example of that cooperation,” he added.

The bid to smuggle weapons into the federal capital was foiled by the Anti-Car Lifting Cell (ACLC) officials who intercepted a Toyota Corolla (RIU 4577) near Benazir Chowk on Fateh Jang Motorway and recovered 14 AK-47s, six sub-machine guns, five shotguns, a sniper rifle and over 30,000 rounds of ammunition on checking.

The driver of the car, Mehboob Hussain, a resident of Kahuta, tried to escape but was arrested by police officials after a brief chase. He told the police during the initial investigation that the consignment was from Peshawar and was bound for Islamabad.

The police said that they were interrogating the suspect to uncover whom the consignment was meant for.

In August this year, the city police and security agencies arrested four suspected terrorists from a house in G-6, which is inside the high-security Red Zone. A suicide jacket was recovered from them, and they were only waiting for the bomber.

Inspector General of Police Islamabad Bani Amin showed the recovered suicide jacket to the media on Sunday. He said the jacket contained over 12 kilograms of explosives and was fitted with pipes.

“This type of suicide jacket has been seized from Islamabad for the first time. It was very heavy and could have caused great damage,” said Amin. He added that the four suspected terrorists were members of the Qari Shakil group.

The terrorists’ facilitator, who had managed to elude arrest was caught, the interior minister told media.

Sardar Ali Khan Khattak, a naib-qasid in the Finance Division who was on leave for two years, was allegedly facilitating the terrorist group in their planned attacks on a Quds Day rally and at sensitive buildings in the capital.

The Qari Shakil group is based in Machini in Mohmand Agency and operates under the umbrella of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan.

Due to his inside knowledge of sensitive locations on Constitution Avenue, Khattak could have proved instrumental for the group in launching attacks on sensitive installations.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik also revealed that security at the Parliament Lodges was enhanced following the threats of a terrorist attack. There was information that terrorists were planning to attack the lodges and take hostages, he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 26^th,  2011.