Muharram procession: Spy agency foils large-scale terror plot

Intelligence officials intercept militant’s phone call.

LAHORE: A large-scale terror bid planned for Muharram was foiled when an intelligence agency detained a suspected terrorist in possession of a suicide vest and explosives, sources revealed.

Intelligence officials intercepted the militant’s phone call and managed to pick him up from Raiwind Road. A suicide vest and at least 16 kg of explosives were recovered from his possession, sources said.

The militant received a phone call from Waziristan on the eighth of Muharram, intelligence sources said. They revealed that the alleged terrorist had arrived in Lahore before the start of Muharram, while the suicide vest and explosives were delivered to him by another terrorist of the same network.

The terror outfit had planned to target three big Shia processions in Lahore through multiple suicide and bomb attacks, the sources asserted.

A summary was sent by the provincial home department’s International Security Wing to the inspector general of Punjab police, capital city police officer (CCPO) and other officials concerned to put security on high alert on the ninth and tenth Muharram processions – particularly in the Thokar Niaz Baig on Raiwind Road, Dharmpura and Mustafabad areas.

Intelligence and law enforcement agencies kept the areas under surveillance soon after.

Intelligence and law enforcement agencies tried to detain other members of the network. Further arrests are expected soon, the sources said.

The agency has kept the detainee’s identity a secret to ensure the arrest of the remaining terrorists of the network. The suspect has been shifted to an undisclosed location for further interrogation.

Due to the sensitivity of the matter, agencies have not yet informed the Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) about the incident and neither have they sent the explosives for analysis.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 10^th, 2011.