Militant commander with Rs1m bounty on his head arrested in Upper Dir

Abdur Rahim was behind attacks that killed 28 security personnel, 16 policemen and 13 Levies officials, police say

UPPER DIR: A militant commander with a bounty of Rs1 million on his head was apprehended Thursday morning from Sonai Darra in Upper Dir.

“Officials of Shahi Kot police station received an intelligence report that militant commander Abdur Rahim alias Raees was present in the area,” Upper Dir District Police Officer Israruddin Bacha said, while addressing the media.

“The Shahi Kot police set up check points at different areas in its limits and arrested Raees from Sonai Darra area around 10 am,” he added.

The militant commander has been shifted to an undisclosed location for further investigation.

The DPO further said that the militant commander is a resident of the Kharu Nusrat Darra area of the district and was involved in five different terrorist attacks in Afghanistan’s Kunar province as well as in Pakistan.

Raees was also behind the attack on a police and Levies check post at Shaltalo area in June 2011.

“The government had announced Rs1 million head money for the arrest of Abdur Rahim, 38, and had published his details in newspapers,” the DPO added.

He further said that 28 security personnel, 16 policemen and 13 Levies officials had been killed in the attacks headed by Raees in the area.

“During these attacks, the militants had destroyed 10 government schools, 15 shops, five houses and a mosque.”

The militant commander was also reportedly involved in a bomb attack against late GOC Malakand Major General Sana Ullah Khan Niazi in 2014.