Toba Tek Singh operation: Man with links to Peshawar attack held

Suspect’s telephone data link him with some terrorists, police say

FAISALABAD: Law enforcement agencies on Sunday took into custody a suspect, Muhammad Arshad, from Toba Tek Singh for his alleged involvement and having links with the perpetrators of Peshawar massacre.

Over 140 people, mostly schoolchildren, were killed when Taliban attacked an army-run school in Peshawar on Tuesday, December 16.

Arshad is a resident of Mohallah Khursheedabad, Kamalia of Toba Tek Singh.



Acting on intelligence lead, a special law enforcing team raided the suspect’s house in the early hours of Sunday and detained him. He was moved to an undisclosed location for questioning. A neighbour of Arshad revealed that “he [Arshad] was previously arrested by the law enforcers in connection with his alleged involvement in the Islamabad Marriott Hotel suicide attack.”

Sughran Bibi, mother of Muhammad Arshad, told The Express Tribune that “my son-in-law, Muhammad Ashfaq, a resident of Chak no 497-GB tehsil Sammundri, is hiding in Afghanistan for the last many years.”

“After marriage of my daughter with Ashfaq, we came to know that he used to frequently travel to Afghanistan,” she said. “After the suicidal attack on Islamabad Marriott Hotel, my son Arshad and other relatives were taken into custody by the police. Thereafter, my daughter and other relatives have cut ties with Ashfaq,” she added.

“Ashfaq, who was earlier running a mobile phone shop in Sammundri, managed to escape after the Marriot attack and went to Afghanistan,” she said.

Sughran bibi further said that her son Arshad was released after interrogation in connection with the Marriott Hotel blast but the police still suspects that he has links with Ashfaq in Afghanistan.

However, a police source revealed that Arshad was taken into custody as his telephone data links him with some of the Peshawar incident perpetrators.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 22^nd, 2014.