Two accused in attack on ANP MPA arrested

CHARSADDA: The police claimed to have arrested two accused allegedly involved in firing on the caravan of Awami National Party MPA Shakil Bashir Umarzai and recovered the weapons and vehicles used in the crime.

Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, District Police Officer Muhammad Shoaib Khan and Superintendent of Police Sajjad Khan said that they had arrested two accused identified as Hamid Ali of Tarangzai and Fazal Malik of Umarzai, who had staged an attack on the caravan of ANP Member Provincial Assembly Shakil Bashir Umarzai on Ghani Khan Road in Charsadda on January 5.

They said the police had also recovered the vehicles and weapons used in the crime.

The DPO added that one accused named Imran was in the prison in Mardan and he would be brought soon on judicial remand for interrogation. He said that Imran had planned the attack and was guiding the assailants via landline phone from the prison in Mardan.

The official said that one policeman Shahenshah Khan, who was deputed as security guard of the MPA, had been martyred in the attack.

“We had collected credible evidence from the crime scene that led to immediate arrest of the two accused while teams have been constituted for the arrest of other accused named Sayyaf, Waheed, Khushdil, Sartaj and Roohullah,” the DPO said.

He added that the attack was the result of an old enmity between Waheed Group and Niaz Ali Group.

He said the arrested accused would be produced in the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) today.

It may be mentioned that Afzal Bashir Umarzai, the brother of MPA Shakil Bashir Umarzai, had nominated former provincial minister Arshad Umarzai and his brother Khursheed Umarzai in the firing case, who were already granted pre-arrest bail by the ATC.