September 28, 2008	Sunday	Ramazan 27, 1429

KARACHI, Sept 27: The suspects killed during Friday’s police raid in Saeedabad had tried to set a trap for the in-coming police party by setting a timer for the blast before committing suicide by shooting themselves in the head, it has been learnt.

Well-placed sources told Dawn that the alleged terrorists set the timer for the blast so that when the police entered the house, they would be hit by the blast.

However, the police did not rush into the house and waited when the guns fell silent following the encounter.

It was most probably Ali Hasan alias Rahimullah alias Naeem who had shot Shaukat Afridi and tried to escape, but he had to surrender as he had run out of bullets, sources said.

However, on Saturday Ali Hasan alias Rahimullah testified in court that Shaukat Afridi was killed by police fire.

Following the standard operation procedure devised by the alleged terrorists of not surrendering before the police, the alleged militants committed suicide by shooting themselves in the head, the sources told Dawn.

Police officials described Ali Hasan alias Rahimullah as an extremely sharp person who chose not to kill himself and took a chance by trying to escape against all odds.

“He answers only what he is asked and does not divulge anything more,” an investigator told Dawn. Sources said that three to four associates of the group were still at large as confirmed by the arrested suspect.

Initial questioning suggested that Ali Hasan was supposed to identify the probable targets in the city as targets for terrorism.

“He is a hardcore militant trained in Afghanistan and Waziristan, having strong association with the Lashkar-i-Jhangvi and inspired by Al Qaeda,” an officer said.

Among the notable things in the seized items, police said, were a suicide belt and a jacket with a plate of bearing balls, which is used in the front portion of the suicide jacket and parachute.

Literature belonging to the Sipah-i-Sahaba, Lashkar-i-Jhangvi in the form of books, cassettes and CDs, was seized following the raid.

The shootout was marred by controversy on Friday when the initial police claim that the suspects had blown themselves up in the blast was proved incorrect by the opinion of the medico-legal officers and the police surgeon that all the bodies bore gunshot wounds. In fact, all had suffered gunshot wounds in the head.

Remand

Justice Khwaja Naveed Ahmed of the Sindh High Court and the Administrative Judge for the Anti-Terrorism Courts (ATCs) for Karachi division on Saturday remanded Raheemullah alias Naeem alias Ali Hassan, suspect in Friday’s Baldia blast case, in physical custody of the CID police till Oct 6.

The suspect was produced before the court after 12.30pm amid strict security.

The armoured personnel carrier in which the suspect was brought to the court was escorted by more than a dozen police vans.

The investigating officer of the case sought remand of the suspect in three cases, one pertaining to the main incident of the police encounter and two related to the FIRs of recovery of illegal weapons and explosives.

Three accomplices of the arrested suspect were killed in Friday’s alleged shootout with the police.