QUETTA, Jan 27: Provincial Police Officer Chaudhary Muhammad Yaqoob has claimed that the main culprits behind the murder of five army personnel in Khuzdar on August 1 have been arrested.

The killers are professional criminals but investigation teams are interrogating them to determine the motives of the attack, he told a press conference here on Thursday. He did not rule out the possibility that the incident might have been politically motivated, but said factual position would be known only when investigation was completed.

Mr Yaqoob claimed that the Khuzdar police succeeded in nabbing Wadera Hasan, Juma Khan Chana, and Rafiq, a yellow cab driver, but six other accused were still at large.

One Nabi Bakhsh Chana had succumbed to his injuries after an encounter with security forces in Khuzdar. He said that senior police officers Rehmatullah Niazi and Tariq Javed were leading two separate investigation teams.

During the course of investigation, the accused were found reluctant to disclose the names of persons who had drawn up plans to assassinate the army jawans, fearing that their family members would be eliminated. The PPO said that efforts were under way to get positive evidence in order to move a challan in court against the accused.