‘Militants’ held in Karachi with Indian made explosives

Pakistani CID police on Wednesday claimed to have arrested five members of a banned militant outfit and seized about 150 kilos of explosives of Indian origin, automatic rifles and suicide vests from them.

A senior CID police official said that the five suspected militants, all residents of Karachi, were arrested in different parts of Orangi Town and they were planning terror attacks on key installations in the city.

‘Initial investigations suggest that they all are militants and associated with the banned Lashkar-i-Jhangvi. They have a history of police arrests on different charges,’ said CID SP Fayyaz Khan.

‘We have seized two suicide jackets, two sacks containing 150 kilos of explosives made by an Indian company and five Kalashnikov rifles with bullets and magazines.’

The SP was speaking to reporters at the DJ College Ground on Dr Ziauddin Ahmed Road where the seized explosives and suicide jackets were being defused by the officials of the Bomb Disposal Squad.

When asked whether the arrested suspects had any links with India, the official said that investigations were in an early stage and the CID did not reach any conclusion about the suspects’ connections with the neighbouring country.

The arrested suspects, aged between 25 and 26 years, are identified as Nasir alias Saifullah, Shakeel Barmi, Atif alias Chooha, Wasim alias Baroodi and Afzal alias Rickshaw Wala.

The official was reluctant to share details of the police action which led to the arrest of the suspected militants.

However, he said the CID police were looking for four of their accomplices – Rasheed Swati, Arif alias Chota, Danish and Naseer – who were still at large.

The CID police claimed that the arrested suspects were planning to target government buildings and prominent individuals. ‘Their main targets were government buildings and hotels,’ said SP Khan.

‘The initial investigations revealed that the suspects were also planning to target prominent personalities including politicians and government members.’

The seized explosives were put on display at the DJ College Ground. The inscription on the two white plastic bags containing about 100 kilos of potassium chlorate, read: ‘Manufactured by Vaigai Industries, Karaikal, India’.

The remaining 50 kilos of explosive material was packed in two small aluminum boxes.

The fresh arrest of the alleged militants came as a fifth such action of the CID in the city, as only a couple of weeks ago they had arrested the alleged Amir of the Karachi chapter of the banned Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan and his accomplices.

- Asian Tribune –