Chinese convoy attack: Terror financing suspect remanded in CTD custody

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Tuesday remanded a suspect in the custody of the Counter-Terrorism Department in a second case pertaining to the October 6 suicide attack near the Karachi airport that killed two Chinese nationals and a Pakistani citizen.

Bilal, said to be a bank employee, has been arrested on charges of terror financing. The CTD officials produced the suspect before the administrative judge of the ATCs and requested his 14-day physical remand for interrogation. However, the judge handed over the suspect to the CTD till Saturday with a direction to produce him on the completion of his remand.

On November 30, the CTD lodged another FIR stating that during the investigation into the suicide attack near the Karachi airport, suspect Javed confessed that facilitation of the airport explosion and its financing were carried out by the banned BLA’s Majeed Brigade.

Funding for the attack was arranged via a private bank’s branch in Hub Chowki, Balochistan. The funds were used to purchase a vehicle for the explosion. The vehicle, a Vigo with the registration number KN-0375, was bought on September 3 for Rs7.1 million from Al-Haram Automobiles on Khalid Bin Waleed Road, Karachi. Bilal, a business development officer at the bank, along with Saeed Ali and other unidentified individuals, played critical roles in the planning and execution, the CTD claimed.