Disaster averted: 30 kg explosives recovered

Suspect says the material was to be used in a terrorism attack in Faisalabad.

FAISALABAD:

People’s Colony police claimed on Friday to have recovered 30 kilogram explosives and some weapons from a graveyard on indication of a terrorism suspect arrested following a shootout on April 7.

The weapons recovered from a bag hidden in the graveyard included three grenades, three grenade pins, four fuse lights, three detonator chords, an electric battery, 18 Kalashnikov bullets and seven 222-bore guns.

Qari Azmatullah, allegedly a member of a banned outfit, also told the police that he and eight of his accomplices were to meet later in the day to plan a terrorist strike in the city.

The police quoted him as saying that the car he was driving had been snatched from near Saleemi Chowk the same day and was to be used in the attack.

Police said Azmatullah identified his accomplices as Dr Arshad Mehmood (alias Qasim alias Khadim Husain alias Shah Jee Lohar), a resident of Mandi Bahauddin; Muhammad Abdullah alias Muhammad Khalid, a resident of Miana Gondal in Mandi Bahauddin; Khalid Mehmood alias Mufti, a resident of Bhalwal; Javaid Iqbal alias Jaida, a resident of Miana Gondal; Ghulam Muhammad Bhutto, a resident of Sohawa village in Mandi Bahauddin; Faiz Rasool alias Phool Badshah, a resident of Mailsi; Abdul Qayyum, a resident of Basti Ghareebabad, Bahawalpur and Muhammad Ejaz, a resident of Mandi Bahauddin.

SP Tahir Maqsood said police concluded that Dr Arshad Mehmood had called these men to Faisalabad to plan the attack. He said raids were underway to track the suspects at large.

Peoples Colony police have booked Azmatullah in a case registered under Sections 324 (attempted murder) and 353 (obstructing a public servant from discharging his duties) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).

Published in The Express Tribune, April 14^th, 2012.