Harbiyar booked in Chinese consulate attack case

KARACHI: The self exiled BLA leader Hyrbyair Marri and 12 others have been booked as the mastermind of the attack on the Chinese Consulate on Friday.

The Counter Terrorism Department has registered an FIR 153/18 under sections of the Anti-terrorism Act, the Explosives Act and the Pakistan Penal Code and the Sindh Arms Act 2013. The FIR cites Hyrbyair Marri, Aslam Achu aka Miraq Baloch, Bashir Zaib, Noor Buksh Mengal, Karim Marri, Captain Rehman Gul, Commander Nisar, Commander Gaindi, commander Shaikhu, commander Sharif, commander Hamal, commander Munshi and Agha Sher Dil as the mastermind, abettors and leaders of the foiled attack.

Giving details of the incident, Incharge CTD Umar Farooq said minutes after reaching the outer barrier they attacked the security picket by hurling grenades and firing at the guards killing them all. Later they rushed towards the reception of the consulate by hurling grenades and firing to kill the other guards. But before their next move, the two guards and one female Pakistani staff along with the nine visa applicants managed to rush into the consulate and locked the iron gate.The investigators said it was then when a father and son from Quetta who had come to apply for the visa were tragically left outside and killed by the attackers. Umar said the attackers attempted to break the iron gate of the consulate with heavy firing and hand grenades but it did not budge. The FIR states that the terrorists planted the C4 explosives to blow up the gate but were killed by the police before they could detonate it. The footages obtained by the security officials showed that one of the attackers had died outside the consulate. He was injured in the abdomen but later committed suicide. “He directed the SMG towards his head and pulled the trigger,” the footage showed. The remaining two were killed inside the reception. The Incharge CTD said the terrorists "had planned to hold the Chinese diplomats and staff hostage and had come prepared for the long haul with food and medicine.”

The investigators suspect that they were facilitated in Karachi and in rural Sindh by a BLA sleeper cell or an allied group, says Khattab. “They launched the attack after planning and reconnaissance and most probably, one of them, particularly Raziq had also visited the consulate,” he said. According to the CTD officer, Raziq was an employee of the agricultural engineering department of the Baluchistan government. The BLA in its claim had identified the attackers but so far they could not be traced in the NADRA record. The investigators believe that the Indian spy agency – RAW is behind the attack on the Chinese consulate. Talking about the BLA’s Aslam aka Achu, the officer said Achu could be seen dispatching them for the attack on the consulate in a video that has gone viral on the social media, adding that BLA is RAW funded terrorist organisation.

The CTD officer suspected RAW to be increasing its footprint in Karachi. He said besides the consulate attack, the Indians seem to also be the sponsors of the recent bombing in Quaidabad that claimed the lives of two and wounded ten others. “Both the attacks were coordinated by RAW, the officer said.