Special operation: Attack on blasphemy accused foiled

Police detain five ‘terrorists’ for plotting Multan prison assault.

MULTAN: In a special operation, the Multan police, with the help of intelligence agencies, arrested five alleged terrorists who had planned on attacking those accused of blasphemy in central prison.

Both Aasia Bibi as well as Junaid Hafeez, whose lawyer Rashid Rehman was shot dead on Wednesday, are both in Central Prison, Multan.

Five terrorists have been arrested, after a brief exchange of fire from Green Town, said RPO Multan Range Muhammad Amin. Out of the five, four men have been identified as Abdul Hafeez from Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Muhammad Nasir from Muzaffargarh, Ahmed Rizwan from Toba Tek Singh, Muhammad Sarfraz from Kot Addu. They are among the alleged terrorists who belong to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan Qari Imran group.

The police also seized 30 detonators, five hand grenades and 10 boxes of explosives from their possession. They have been taken to an undisclosed place for investigations.

The Multan police have found a complete attack plan on the central prison other sensitive instalments in south Punjab, Amin told The Express Tribune.

The group is over here in south Punjab to hit sectarian crisis, military instalments and other important buildings.

Maps, blueprints and plans of surveillance on the cells of blasphemy accused, Junaid Hafeez and Aasia Bibi, were also recovered from the militants, a police official said, requesting anonymity.

Meanwhile, the district police have alerted the security of the central jail.

Bomb hoax

Separately, the 15 emergency police received a phone call saying that a bomb had been planted inside the building of District and Sessions Courts, Multan. The entire building was vacated, which caused a massive traffic jam. Rescue 1122 personnel, the Bomb Disposal Squad, district administration, traffic police and the fire brigade launched a search that lasted for three hours, after which the building was declared safe. Police officials said they will arrest the suspect soon.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 11^th, 2014.