3 held, weapons seized in Liaquatabad raids
DIG Investigation Iftikhar Hussain Tarrar said that the raid was conducted after the police received information that weapons were being stored at a house in Liaquatabad. The joint team of the AVCC and the CPLC that conducted the raids was headed by CPLC chief Ahmed Chinoy and SSP Usman Ghani Siddiqui. The locations raided included a house near the Sindhi Hotel and a madrassa known as Faizan-ul-Quran, both in Liaquatabad.
The suspects were identified as Shafiqullah, Noman and Faizan. Two suspects, identified as Imran Yaseen and Amanullah, managed to escape.
The confiscated items include a light machine gun, rocket launchers, a 7mm rifle, an SMG, a 44-bore rifle, two pistols, 1,000 bullets, five boxes of explosive material, eight wiring boxes and religious literature. The police also took three motorcycles and a car into custody. DIG Tarrar said that an initial interrogation revealed that the arrested men did not belong to any political party or militant group. However, the enormous cache of arms that was recovered from their custody suggested links to terrorist organisations.
Hanif Memon kidnapping charges
According to the police, the arrested men were involved in the kidnapping of a constructer, Hanif Memon, on August 27. Memon was released on September 1, after the kidnappers were paid a ransom of Rs780,000. The Aziz Bhatti police lodged an FIR under section 365-A and began their investigation with the assistance of the CPLC. After his release, Memon alerted the police about the involvement of a man named Amanullah, whose house was raided in Liaquatabad. Although he managed to escape the raid, police arrested his father, Shafiqullah. Memon confirmed that the arrested suspect had been present at the house where he was held for several days.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 16th, 2010.
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