Lahore blast: Three more Indians arrested

[Naveed Yaseen]

* Two more Afghan nationals also arrested
* Indians arrested on Thursday picked up in New Anarkali and Nishat Colony
* City police launches special search operation

LAHORE: Law-enforcement agencies on Thursday arrested three more Indians in Lahore as part of investigations into the GOR-II blast on Wednesday, according to intelligence sources – with security officials also claiming the arrest of two Afghan nationals.

The sources said the latest arrests came after an Indian arrested earlier – Satish Anand Shukla – told investigators that ‘three more Indian spies’ were also in the city.

Two of the men – identified as brothers Ram Kumar and Ram Chander – were arrested in New Anarkali, while the third, Prakash, was picked up from Nishat Colony.

Civil Lines Division SP (Investigations) Haider Ashraf has confirmed the arrests.

The sources said that one of the men was a resident of New Delhi and another had worked at the Indian embassy in Afghanistan. The men told investigators they had been tasked with getting photographs of government buildings and congregations and send them to Indian officials who were supposed to make an assessment of security arrangements at these places, said the sources, adding that the men had been shifted to an unknown location for interrogations. They also said that the arrested men had been under cover in the provincial capital for the last 15 days.

Law-enforcement agencies have also started collecting data on the locals suspected of assisting the Indians. The sources said investigators were looking for people who had sponsored the visas of the arrested Indians and provided them accommodation in Lahore.

The said that following the GOR-II blast, the law-enforcement agencies had also started collecting information on arm dealers involved in the smuggling of illegal weapons in the city.

A senior Lahore police official said intelligence agencies were investigating the GOR-II blast on a ‘scientific basis’ and information was being shared.

He said the latest arrests came when city police raided three places on information provided by the intelligence agencies. He said that Lahore police was not aware of further developments in the investigation.

The official however said that city police had launched a special search operation in the hunt for more suspected terrorists. The first Indian to be arrested in the investigation was Satish Anand Shukla – who was picked up from a graveyard in Lahore. A third afghan national – identified as Kabul Khan – was also arrested on Wednesday.

Shukla, a resident of Kolkata, said he had worked at India’s high commission in London for three years. He initially told investigators that his name was Muneer, and was in Lahore to attend the wedding of a Lohari resident, but police could not trace the man. The sources said that Shukla was traced through calls monitored in the blast area.

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