ATTOCK, March 18: Police on Friday arrested two alleged terrorists near Mono Nager on GT Road and seized a heavy consignment of arms and ammunition from their possession. District Police Officer Capt (retired) Zafar Iqbal Awan, speaking at a press conference at the district police headquarters, said the police had received a tip-off about a possible bid to smuggle arms from the NWFP to Punjab by some terrorist group. A picket was set up near Mono Nager village in the jurisdiction of Hassanabdal Saddar police station under the supervision of DSP Farooq Ahmed Bhatti. The police signalled a Rawalpindi-bound coach (LSB-3358) to stop but the driver sped away. However, the vehicle was chased and intercepted by the police. During the search, the police seized 180 hand-grenades, 21,415 bullets, 428 Kalashnikov magazines, 18 pistols, 26 AK-47 rifles and 23.97kg explosive material. The arms and ammunition were kept in hidden cavities of the coach, which was also impounded. The DPO said a case had been registered against the two “outlaws” and investigation was underway. He said during the preliminary investigation, the accused disclosed that the consignment was being carried from the tribal areas to interior parts of the country, where it was to be handed over to some terrorist group.

The official said a special investigation team had been constituted to probe the matter.

To a query about the identification of the accused, the DPO said their names were being kept secret due to precautionary measures.