2 alleged militants arrested with a would-be ‘bomber’

CID found a 16-year-old boy who was being trained to carry out suicide attacks.

KARACHI: The anti extremism cell of the Crime Investigation Department (CID) has claimed to have arrested two alleged militants in possession of not just suicide jackets but a teenaged suicide bomber.

On the directives of Additional IG CID Sindh Saud Ahmed, the anti-extremism team, led by SSP Umar Shahid and SSP Chaudhry Aslam, conducted an operation in Sohrab Goth after an alleged encounter on Monday.

They managed to arrest two suspected militants, Sher Rehman and Zainullah alias Bilal alias Zank. The police also seized a 22-kilogramme suicide jacket, Kalashnikov, TT pistol and three hand-grenades from their possession. They also found 16-year-old Muhammad Salaam in the suspects’ possession.

“We were working on this case with the help of a federal intelligence agency,” said SSP Umar Shahid of the CID, while addressing a news conference at Police Headquarters Garden on Monday.

According to Shahid, Salaam was in the process of being prepared for a suicide attack. He was brainwashed to such an extent that the agencies believed he would have carried out an attack within a month or so, he added.

Meanwhile, SSP Chaudhry Aslam stressed that they are unaware of the target of this attacker. “Initial investigations suggest that he was going to blow himself up somewhere in the northern parts of the country,” he went on to say.

Recalling the information revealed by the teenaged militant, the officials said that he was being manipulated by the militants, who threatened to kill his family unless he agreed to kill people.

Salaam was a student of class nine and a resident of Sohrab Goth. He met Sher Rehman at a mosque in the area. Sher Rehman threatened to slaughter Salaam if he refused to carry out a suicide attack. After being brainwashed for some time, Salaam believed that he was ready to go to South Waziristan for an attack.

However, since his recovery by the police, he said he was relieved and felt secured. “Salaam and his family are both safe,” added SSP Shahid.

Suspect Sher Rehman is allegedly a close associate of the leadership of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, namely Hakimullah Mehsud and Qari Hussain. He is also responsible for recruiting children to train them to carry out attacks.

SSP Shahid added that the suspects also revealed during the interrogation that they have also slaughtered one of their accomplices, Shahid alias Raangar, at Sohrab Goth. He was suspected of being involved with the agencies.

“In order to deter more spies, they slaughtered a man in Sohrab Goth to set an example for others,” said SSP Shahid, adding that Sher Rehman was also accused of attempting to kill a Shia doctor, Nadir, in Quetta.

SSP Shahid further said that suspects Umer Farooq, Gul Zareen and Zahir Shah managed to escape during the operation.

Two people gunned down

Target killings claimed two more lives on Monday. Twenty eight-year-old Sohail, a motorcycle mechanic, was gunned down by two armed men near the Northern Bypass in Sector 36-A, Surjani Town. His body was moved to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for legal formalities. SHO Yar Mohammad Rind said the Balochi victim had no political affiliations but his brother, Faisal, is a member of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement. No case was registered till the filing of this report.

Separately, the police found a six-day-old body in North Karachi. According to the police officials, the victim’s identity could not be ascertained.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 26^th, 2010.