Residency attack suspect held in Quetta

QUETTA: Police claim to have arrested the prime suspect of the Ziarat Residency attack. “The mastermind was arrested during a raid in Hazar Ganji, located on the outskirts of the provincial capital,” SSP Operations Aitzaz Ahmed Goraya told a news conference on Friday.

Taking action on a tip-off, police officials raided a compound in Hazar Ganji and detained Paku Marri, said SSP Goraya.

He said Marri was among 15 men who were involved in the Ziarat Residency attack on June 15, 2013. “During the interrogation, the accused confessed to his crime.”

The officer said nine of the 15 attackers had already been arrested.

The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) had claimed responsibility for the attack on the Ziarat Residency. The militants had removed the Pakistani flag and replaced it with the BLA flag.

A rocket attack had killed a policeman and gutted the historic summer retreat used by Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 23^rd, 2015.