QUETTA, June 1: Police said on Thursday it had arrested one of the alleged masterminds of a series of deadly sectarian attacks in the provincial capital and other parts of Balochistan.

Inspector General of Police Chaudhry Mohammad Yaqub identified the man as Habibullah Zehri, a key member of the outlawed Lashkar-i-Jhangvi group, who had been awarded the death penalty in absentia by an anti-terrorism court.

“He is involved in planning and executing almost all sectarian killings in Balochistan,” he told reporters late Thursday. Deputy Inspector General Police Salman Syed, SSP CID Rehmatullah Niazi were also present on the occasion.

“It is a major achievement for us. We are confident his arrest will strengthen sectarian harmony in Balochistan,” he said. “There is no sectarian tension in the province and only a handful of terrorists want to sabotage this harmony.”

Mr Yaqub said Habibullah was one of three key figures of Lashkar-i-Jhangvi who had plotted and carried out sectarian attacks in the province. His two associates, Dawood Badini and Osman Saifullah, have already been arrested.

“Habibullah has confessed that he was involved in at least 28 cases of sectarian attacks,” he said. He carries a bounty of Rs1 million on his head.

Giving details, the inspector general of police said Habibullah had undergone militant training in Afghanistan along with Lashkar-i-Jhangvi’s founder Riaz Basra, who was killed in a police encounter a few years ago.

Mr Yaqub said Habibullah, Badini and Saifullah had started terrorist activities in 1999 with an attack on Nisar Hazara, who was then education minister in Balochistan. Mr Hazara survived the attack but his driver was killed.

According to him, Habibullah was also involved in the planning and execution of sectarian attacks in Quetta, including killing of police cadets, suicide attacks on the Ashura procession and a mosque on Prince Road.

Mr Yaqub said Habibullah was responsible for a failed attack on a religious procession on the 8th of Muharram last year. Habibullah was also involved in dubious car deals. “He had shaven his beard to dodge police but he could not escape detection,” he said.

He said police investigations had found that around 32 sectarian militants were involved in terrorist activities in Balochistan and out of them 23 people had been arrested so far. “Inshallah, we will arrest the other terrorists as well,” he added.