Four ‘terrorists trained by RAW’ held in Karachi

KARACHI: The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD), with the assistance of Pakistan’s premier intelligence agency, has arrested four terrorists with links to the Indian spy agency the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).
The arrests were made in raids conducted in different parts of Karachi as part of a joint operation carried out by officials of the anti-terror department with the help of Intelligence officials, said CTD Investigation Wing head Naveed Khwaja in a media briefing on Thursday.
The suspects were identified as Abdul Jabbar alias Zafar Tension, Mohammad Shafiq Khan alias Pappu (who is an employee of the Karachi Water & Sewerage Board), Mohammad Mohsin Khan alias Kashif alias Hassan alias Zeeshan and Khalid Aman alias Daad (who allegedly got married in India).
During interrogation, they admitted that they had been involved in terrorist activities in Karachi and got training from RAW in India from 1995 to 2002.
In India, the alleged terrorists visited Basantpur, Dehra Dun, Jodhpur, Rajasthan and Faridpur, and were said to have been trained to handle weapons and ammunition, including SMGs, RPGs and hand grenades.
A suspected criminal, Jawed Langra, looked after them in India and also provided them with complete logistical support, Khawja said.
Abdul Jabbar alias Zafar Tension told the interrogators that after his physical training ended in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, he returned to Delhi and met Jawed Langra, who told him to return to Pakistan and assassinate MQM-Haqiqi chief Afaq Ahmed.
In 1997, a person, Tariq Zaidi alias Sunny, who with Shafique Pappu met Zafar Tension in Basantpur, directed him to transport explosives to Pakistan. Zafar also confessed that he crossed the border with Ajmal Pahari and Nura with two kilograms of explosives and after three or four days he, along with Ajmal Pahari, Arshad Chota, Safdar, Zeeshan and Nura, planned an attack on Afaq Ahmed, who escaped unhurt.
In the same year, Tariq Zaidi informed Zafar that he had sent money through Hundi which was delivered to Shafique Pappu for the purchase of weapons from Lahore.
RAW officials Major Bhagat and Major Rathore supervised their training in India. The main task assigned to these terrorists was to carry out the target killings of political activists.
Tariq Zaidi through a messenger also allegedly conveyed to Zafar Tension that in Moharram one year, a series of bomb blasts in Ancholi, Rizvia and Shah Khurasan Imambargahs had to be carried out to create chaos and anarchy and sectarian violence in Karachi but such attacks did not happen.
In the year 2000, Mohsin went to India from where he received two-years of training. He then returned to Pakistan and tried to assassinate Faqeer Mohammed, who survived the attack. The arrested suspects also planned to assassinate different MNAs/MPAs, local leaders of political and religious party and police officers.
They also confessed that in the year 2008, they were tasked with planting six improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in Orangi Town and a series of blasts were carried out there in which three persons were killed and 25 injured. Cases were lodged at the Orangi Town Police Station. These attacks were organised by RAW.
The suspects further disclosed that in January 2000, Mohammed Shafique Khan alias Pappu met Tariq Zaidi and Jawed Langra and handed over to Zaidi 10 kilograms of explosive material, which he delivered to Zafar Tension in Karachi. He said he brought explosives to Pakistan from India via sea and also by crossing the border by land with the help of Tariq Zaidi and Jawed Langra several times.
In 2012, they conveyed a message received from the upper command to Raees alias Mama, and after that Raees with his associates attacked Afaq Ahmed in which three workers of the Mohajir Qaumi Movement Aleem Ahmed Khan, Zafar Qaimkhani and Abdul Qadir Jilani, were killed while Afaq Ahmed remained safe. A case was lodged at the Sharafi Goth Police Station.
It was further stated that they all had connections with criminal groups based in South Africa, India, London, Dubai and Malaysia. A laptop was also recovered from their possession and documentary evidence regarding the involvement of RAW in Pakistan also came to light.