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Thursday March 28, 2024

Three Daesh men involved in terror funding arrested

By Salis bin Perwaiz
September 13, 2018

Karachi’s Anti-Violent Crime Cell (AVCC) on Wednesday announced the arrest of three alleged hardcore terrorists associated with the banned Islamic State, also known by its Arabic language acronym Daesh, for their involvement in ransom kidnappings and terror funding.

During a briefing at the Crime Investigation Agency DIG’s office, AVCC chief SSP Irfan Ali Bahadur said they were investigating into ransom kidnappings, especially the abduction of a youngster reported on February 6, which provided them with leads suggesting the involvement of banned organisations.

SSP Bahadur said that during the course of investigation into the youngster’s kidnapping, they found that terrorists had called up his brother from an Afghanistan number and demanded a ransom of Rs100 million, which was later settled at Rs10 million.

He said the terrorists had also sent a video to the victim’s family through WhatsApp in which they faked the severing of one of the fingers of their captive to express their frustration over the delay in the ransom’s payment.

He added that in May the family paid the ransom to the terrorists’ associate identified as Mukhtiar, following which the youngster was released on the main University Road at the end of the month.

The AVCC chief said they had been looking into the information they had gathered and tracing the calls made to the family, which helped them pinpoint the locations to conduct raids.

He said they arrested three terrorists after a shootout during a raid in the outskirts of the city, but four of their associates managed to escape. He added that the detainees Mukhtiar, Naeem and Noorullah were associated with Daesh.

SSP Bahadur said the Rs10 million ransom was recovered because it was yet to be delivered to Afghanistan, adding that the police also seized weapons as well as impounded the vehicle used in the kidnapping.

He said that this was the 11th ransom kidnapping they had solved, adding that Naeem was a hardcore terrorist who was behind the murders of policemen among seven people, while Mukhtiar and Noorullah were involved in hawala as well as raising funds for their outfit.

The AVCC chief said Naeem had escaped raids in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where his associates were killed, adding that the detainees had told them about another abduction as well as the murder of a kidnap victim.

He said that in another of their kidnapping cases, they were transporting a trader from Karachi to Balochistan in the boot of a car when the victim jumped out of the vehicle in the Hub Chowki area.

He added that the terrorists shot and injured the fleeing kidnap victim, but he managed to reach a nearby police post. SSP Bahadur said the detainees had been in constant touch with Daesh leaders in Afghanistan through different internet and mobile applications.

  Earlier action

Last week the AVCC had claimed to have gunned down three Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) terrorists, including two Afghan bombers, during a shootout in the wee hours of September 4.

In a media briefing at his office, Karachi police chief Addl IGP Amir Ahmed Shaikh said AVCC officials under the supervision of SSP Irfan Ali Bahadur conducted an operation after receiving intelligence that TTP terrorists were present in Raees Amroha Colony, Ittehad Town, Baldia Town.

When the police team arrived on the scene, the officials were met with armed resistance that resulted in Police Constable Ismail being hit by a bullet, but he remained unharmed because of his bulletproof vest.

After the police retaliated, the ensuing gunfight ended in the officials arresting three suspects in an injured condition as their companions fled the scene. The injured were taken to a hospital, but they died before getting treatment.

A search of their hideout yielded two prepared suicide jackets, two pistols with bullets, detonators, sketches of sensitive places, mobile phones and explosive materials. Shaikh said the deceased were identified as Zubair, alias Waqas, Rehmat Ramzan and Faisal Rasheed. He said Zubair was the Karachi chief of the TTP’s Swat chapter.

The police chief said Zubair also facilitated terrorists Mumtaz and Ahmed Munna to break out of the Central Jail Karachi, adding that Ramzan and Rasheed were bombers who were transported to the city from Afghanistan.

SSP Bahadur said Zubair was the mastermind behind Mumtaz and Munna’s prison break, adding that they had leads suggesting that Zubair moved them to Afghanistan after their escape.

He said the killed terrorists and those who had escaped had conducted reconnaissance of important installations in Karachi, adding that the police have sent the seized mobile phones for a forensic examination.

The SSP said that the initial forensic report has confirmed that the terrorists had conducted recce of the city courts, adding that they have video recordings of their gates.

Addl IGP Shaikh said the terrorists had also planned to target a police mobile stationed at the Lyari Expressway checkpoint, where officials from other law enforcement agencies usually carry out snap checking in the evening hours.

He said the terrorists’ next plan suggested that after senior officials would gather at the site of the attack, they would carry out another attack to hit more officials.