Huge quantity of explosives seized in Nowshera

NOWSHERA: The police seized a huge quantity of explosives and arrested three persons, including a cousin of the Awami National Party (ANP) leader Sardar Hussain Babak, an official said on Sunday.

District Police Officer (DPO) Wahid Mehmood told reporters that the cops stopped a pick-up truck with tinted glasses at the Hakimabad checkpoint in Nowshera and recovered 700 dynamites, 1,500 detonators, 3,000 metres wire and safety fuses from the secret cavities of the vehicle.

The police arrested three persons identified as Anwar Hussain Babak, Muhammad Naeem and Amanullah.The official said the police and security forces were on alert after the January 20 attack on the Bacha Khan University in Charsadda. He said the vehicle was transporting the explosives’ material through a sensitive area without having licence and the required documents.

He said one of the arrested persons was an activist of the ANP and son of former provincial minister. He said the explosives were manufactured in the Wah Ordnance Factory, adding, “The factory does not sell such items without license.”

He said transportation of explosives in such a huge quantity from one place to another was allowed after informing the police.Anwar Hussain Babak told The News after his arrest that his family had obtained lease of mines in their native Totalai in Buner district. He said he possessed the license for use of explosives in the mines, but had left the document at home.

ANP leader and MPA Sardar Hussain Babak also reached the Cantonment Police Station after the incident. He told reporters that his cousin had license of supplying explosives for the family mines in Totalai.