Suspects of polio workers’ killings sent on remand for four days

The police had arrested the men after an encounter from Ittehad Town on Wednesday.

KARACHI: A district and sessions court remanded on Thursday five alleged members of the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) into police custody for four days.

The men were arrested by the Crime Investigation Department on Wednesday for their alleged involvement in killing female polio workers in the city, as well as, the bomb blast at Ayesha Manzil on January 1 that killed at least four people and injured around 40 others.

Azizullah Khoso, the judicial magistrate for district West, remanded the men after they were presented before the court. The accused, Ayub Khan, Bilal alias Mushtaq, Tauseef Ali alias Bhai Jan, Saifullah alias Mushtaq and Motim Khan were arrested after an alleged encounter with the police at their hideout in Ittehad Town on Wednesday. The police seized a modified four-wheeled motorcycle, the likes of which are traditionally used by physically challenged people, that contained 60 kilogrammes (kgs) of explosives, two pressure cookers that each contained nine kgs of explosives, nine cricket balls with explosive cores, five hand grenades, four Kalashnikovs, five 9mm pistols, a detonating code and 25 kgs of unsecured explosive material.

The men were booked under sections 13-D of the Arms Ordinance, 353 (criminal force to deter public servant), 324 (attempted murder) and 34 of the Pakistan Penal Code, and Section 4/5 of the Explosive Substance Act. The suspects are expected to be produced before an anti-terrorism court.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 11^th, 2013.