Would-be suicide bomber among 3 terrorists held in Charsadda

CHARSADDA: The police here on Wednesday claimed to have foiled a terror bid and arrested three alleged terrorists, including a would-be suicide bomber, belonging to a banned militant group.

An official communique said that District Police Officer Mohammad Shoaib had received information that the terrorists were going to stage an act of subversion in Muharram.

The DPO ordered the formation of a team comprising Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Shabqadar, Farooq Zaman and other cops to avert the bid of terrorism, it said, adding that acting on a tip-off, the police launched a search operation and arrested the three terrorists.

The arrested terrorists were identified as Luqman alias Habib, Bakht Riyan and Mohammad Taj alias Taj Gul. They belonged to Shabqadar tehsil in Charsadda district.

Officials said that on the basis of information provided by the arrested persons, the police also recovered explosives, two improvised explosive devices and three hand-grenades.

DSP Farooq Zaman told reporters that the three terrorists belonged to a proscribed militant outfit. He added that on the orders of a militant commander Abdullah alias Khan Jee, Luqman and Bakht Riyan made threatening phone calls to the people demanding extortion money.

The official said that in the past this group was involved in making threatening phone calls and sending letters to people in Charsadda and Peshawar to demand extortion money from them.

He said two SIM cards of a cellular company operating in Afghanistan were also recovered from the accused. The accused were also involved in the killing of one Hakim Mohabbat Singh in Shabqadar in 2014 for refusing to pay the extortion money, the official said.

Farooq Zaman said that one of the arrested terrorists, Mohamad Taj, was the facilitator of a militant commander Munsif alias Hanif. He said Mohammad Taj had met Hanif on a number of occasions in Afghanistan.

The DSP said the terrorists also planned suicide attacks on police stations and vans in Charsadda. The arrested terrorists were handed over to the Counter-Terrorism Department for further investigation, he added.