Police nab 7 TTP men, recover 300kg explosives including suicide jackets

[Naveed Yaseen]

* Reveal preparing 4 suicidal jackets, truck laden with explosives to carry out terrorist attacks in city
* Explosives had ‘made in India’ trademark

By Faraz Khan

KARACHI: The city police claimed on Thursday to have apprehended seven alleged hardcore terrorists belonging to the Hakimullah Mehsud group of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) after a brief encounter in Gulistan-e-Jauhar area.

According to details, more than 300 kilogrammes of Indian origin explosives were recovered from the possession of the alleged militants, which is said to be the highest-ever amount of explosives recovered from the city.

Earlier, the Sindh police’s Crime Investigation Department had seized 100 kilogrammes of Indian origin explosives from the possession of five alleged terrorists belonging to TTP. They were arrested from Orangi Town.

According to city’s police officials, the arrested militants are Saeed Anwar alias Maulvi, who is said to be TTP Ameer for Swat, Hamid Ali alias Hameesh alias Batu, a suicide bomber, Hazrat Umer alias Ameer Sahab, Khan Wali, Khan Alam, Saif-ur-Rehman and Karamat Khan.

Capital City Police Officer (CCPO), Karachi Wasim Ahmed along with East Zone II (Investigations) SSP Choudhry Aslam Khan and other officials, while addressing a press conference held at Central Police Office (CPO) on Thursday afternoon, disclosed the arrests of the said persons and claimed that the arrested terrorists were affiliated with TTP’s new chief Hakimullah Mehsud.

One of the arrested militants named Saeed Anwar alias Maulvi was the TTP Ameer for Swat, who was also involved in the terrorist attack on the Keamari Oil Terminal last month and some of his accomplices including Akhtar Zaman and Shaminullah had already been arrested, he added.

The officer further informed the journalists that these terrorists had planned to carry out terrorist attacks and intended to target sensitive installations.

During initial course of interrogation, they revealed that they were seeking to target police head office and high-ranking police officers while public places, politicians and political organisation head offices were also on their hit list.

Talking about the arrests, he said, the police had information that some terrorists belonging to the TTP were gathering in Gulistan-e-Jauhar area to plan a terrorist act, upon which, a police team led by SSP Khan on a tip-off, carried out a raid at Katchi Abadi near Fatima Zehra Masjid, Block-10, Qalandarabad, Gulistan-e-Jauhar and made the arrests after a brief encounter.

The terrorists further revealed that they have been involved in targeting the army, FC and police personnel in Dera Ismail Khan and Waziristan and also destroyed a number of schools and they were preparing four suicidal jackets and a truck laden with explosives to carry out terrorist attacks in Karachi through a suicide bomber named Hamid Ali.

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List of explosives, devices and weapons seized

* Two complete suicidal jackets with detonating systems having specific accessories, high explosive C-4 weighing about 28-kg.

* Six waist banderols containing three argeous grenades, two matebar grenades with self contained detonator and safety pin, one smoke bomb M46.

* Three bags of white crystallised RDX explosives of Indian origin weighing 100-kg each.

* Two bags of 50-kg highly explosive chemical material.

* Two kilogrammes of highly explosive substances C-4 (03 Psvkry).

Seven Russian made grenades.

* Nineteen brown TNT highly explosive (slabs/blocks).

* Ten brown paper coloured TNT blocks highly explosive (slabs/blocks).

* Four suicide jackets with pull switch.

* One tracer.

* 100 mechanical detonators MK-27.

* One mercury bottle.

* One hundred and three detonators with two yellow wires MK-33 electronic.

* Seventeen switches No 04 for suicide jacket use.

* Five rolls of detonating cord in orange colour.

* One roll of detonating cord in black colour.

* Three RPG 07 rockets.

* Three rocket ejectors.

* Five Kalashnikovs fully loaded with magazines.

* A repeater and TT pistol with magazines.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp...009_pg12_2