Three ‘LeJ terrorists’ arrested in Steel Town raid

District Malir police personnel claimed on Saturday they had arrested three notorious criminals of the banned Lashker-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) on charges of their involvement in a number of target killings and other heinous crimes, including escaping from the Central Prison Karachi.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Irfan Ali Bahadur of District Malir said that responding to intelligence information that some notorious terrorists belonging to a banned outfit were present in Steel Town, a pre-dawn raid was conducted and three terrorists were arrested after cops faced some resistance.

The suspects were identified as Shaikh Muhammad Moinuddin alias Papu alias Ismail, Arbaaz alias Aryaan and Aareeb alias Bilal.

During a search of their hideout, a detonator, three device fuses, two remote controls, three pieces of device wire, different types and colours of tapes, a pair of scissors, two hand grenades, 1,000 grams of big ball bearings, 515 grams of small ball bearings, 2.5 kilos of different sizes of nails, 90 kilograms of explosive material, batteries and a cooler were found and seized.

SSP Bahadur said the initial interrogation revealed that the three possessed expertise in making improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and were planning to carry out terrorism activities in Karachi.

They also allegedly took militancy training in Afghanistan and were associated with the banned LeJ. Moinuddin and Arbaaz are brothers of terrorist Mumtaz alias Feroun.

Moinuddin disclosed that he had joined the organisation in 2007, and from 2008 till 2009 he remained an accountant for the outfit. In 2013 he along with his brother Mumtaz alias Feroun were arrested by the CTD Sindh, while his brother, Mumtaz alias Feroun, along with his associate, Ahmed, made a successful attempt to escape from the Central Prison in June 2017 and fled to Afghanistan.

He further admitted that he later went to Afghanistan and remained there from March 2018 to June 2019 along with his brother, Mumtaz, and an associate, Asad alias Munna. During his stay in Afghanistan, he took militancy training for about 45 days, and on the instruction of his brother, Mumtaz, he established a terrorism training camp in Afghanistan. In May 2019 he came to Balochistan and took militancy training there too.

Moinuddin disclosed that he along with his brother, Mumtaz alias Feroun, and Bilal were coming to Karachi and when they were near a Frontier Corps checkpost in District Panjgur, Balochistan, an encounter took place with Levies personnel. In the shootout, Mumtaz alias Feroun was killed while a JOC and Jawan of the FC Intelligence Unit was martyred.

Arbaaz alias Aryaan said that on the instructions of his brother, Mumtaz alias Feroun, he had joined the proscribed outfit in 2019. On June 17, 2019, he along with Mumtaz alias Shahzad had made a murder attempt on police constables Allah Dino and Ahmed Ali in Orangi Town No. 10 in the Mominabad police remit, in which both constables were martyred.

Aareeb alias Bilal alias Orangzeb disclosed that he had joined the LeJ in 2019, and during the same year on March 9 he along with his associates planned to rob a liqour shop in Hawa Goth, Orangi Town.

He said that when they were returning from the place, they had an encounter with police, and in the crossfire PC Habibullah was martyred. He further disclosed that he had transferred millions of rupees via Hawala Hundi to their leaders in Afghanistan. He was also allegedly involved in the killing of police constables Allah Dino and Ahmed Ali in the Mominabad area.

Further investigations are underway.