Criminal activity: Weapons smuggling bids foiled

Police seize machine guns and sniper rifles from two cars in different parts of the city.

ISLAMABAD: The city police on Thursday foiled two bids to smuggle weapons including machine guns and sniper rifles into the capital and apprehended four suspects.

A police spokesperson stated that the arrested suspects were terrorists and the weapons seized could have been used in terrorist activities in the city.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik said that a major terror plot in Islamabad's Red Zone district had been foiled. The district is home to Western embassies, parliament, the presidency and the Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI) headquarters.

Malik said the plot was unearthed after the authorities seized a large quantity of arms and ammunition in a raid on a house in the Chatta Bakhtawar suburb at the weekend.

"As a result of strict security measures in the federal capital, some major terrorist plots have been foiled," he told reporters.

"The terrorists wanted to target certain specific places in the Red Zone (the heavily fortified government district) and the headquarters of an elite agency," Malik said.

Senior police officers were not certain about the suspects’ terror links and said investigations were underway.

In the first incident, the Golra police intercepted a vehicle (STL 7755) near Sadat Colony in the outskirts on a tip that it was carrying weapons.

On checking, police recovered twelve rifles of different calibres and types including sub machine guns, 10 pistols of 30-bore calibre and 11,000 rounds of different weapons.

Police said the weapons were concealed in specially designed compartments in the car.

Two men in the car were arrested. They were identified as Muhammad Ibrahim and Muhammad Ismail, residents of Takht Bahi, Mardan and Peshawar respectively. They told the police that they were coming from Peshawar with the weapons.

The station house officer of the Golra Police Station said that “the suspects are being interrogated and it has not been determined if they were terrorists or weapons smugglers”.

He said the police will produce the suspects before the court on Friday to obtain a physical remand for further investigations.

In another incident, the Crime Investigations Agency (CIA) police team intercepted a Nissan Sunny (LHU 252) near a toll plaza in the Tarnol area to check the car’s documents.

However, during verification of the car, police recovered arms and ammunition, including eight sub machine guns, nine 12-bore repeater shotguns, seven 30-bore pistols, two automatic pistols, seven telescopes for 30-bore, 43 magazines and 5,420 rounds of different guns.

Superintendent of Police (Investigations) Liaqat Ali said the two men arrested from the car appeared to be smugglers of weapons. However, he added, they are investigating to determine “if they had any terror links.”

A case for smuggling weapons will be registered against the suspects in Tarnol Police Station, Ali added.

The arrested suspects were identified as Shah Zen and Rafique, both residents of Dara Adam Khel.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 14^th, 2011.