KARACHI, Oct 8: Police on Saturday arrested a man belonging to a banned outfit for his alleged involvement in attacks on President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz.

The arrest was made when police raided a hotel near the Cantonment railway station. The man was identified as Sharafat Ali alias Khalid Fauji. “The suspect is believed to be a close associate of Amjad Farooqi — the mastermind behind the December 2002 attack on President Musharraf in Rawalpindi,” City Police Chief Karachi Tariq Jamil told a news conference.

Mr Jamil said Fauji was a member of the Harkatul Jihad-i-Islami, and was wanted for deadly attacks on a church in Rawalpindi and a missionary school in Taxila. He said there was a reward of Rs2 million on his head. An accomplice of the arrested militant, however, managed to escape. A Kalashnikov assault rifle, two grenades, three pistols and a huge quantity of ammunition were seized during the raid.

“He (Fauji) is trained in making bombs and carrying out terrorist activities. He was also wanted by the Punjab government in numerous cases. We are going to interrogate him to get information about terrorist activities in Karachi,” Mr Jamil added.