Small breakthrough: Brother, father of TTP member arrested

PESHAWAR:

Police raided a house in Ghazali Garhi, Pajjagi and arrested the brother and father of a Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan member on Wednesday. Officials also seized explosives and parts used in assembling improvised-explosive devices.

According to the police, Ilyas, a resident of Ghazali Garhi, fired at Khalid Khan, a motorway police official, on Pajjagi Road Tuesday night. Ilyas fled when the injured policeman put up a fight, leaving his motorcycle and national identification card behind, helping the police locate him.

“His house was raided on Wednesday and the father and brother of the accused were arrested,” said an official of the Mathra police station. “One low-intensity 300-gram explosive device, a 400-gram explosive, three grenades, three detonators, some prima cards and other items were seized from the house,” he told The Express Tribune.

Ilyas is, without a doubt, part of the Tehreek-e-Taliban network in Peshawar and is involved in extortion as well as target killings, as is evident from his attack on the policeman, added the Mathra policeman. “The man fled but we are investigating and hoping to reach other members of the gang; it is a big breakthrough.”

Published in The Express Tribune, July 10^th, 2014.