DERA GHAZI KHAN, May 16: Police have announced arrest of a suspected militant allegedly involved in attack on Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore in 2009.

District Police Officer Tassaduq Hiyat on Monday told a press conference that Adnan Khosa alias Arshad alias Sajjad with code name 'Cchotu' who was involved in attack on Sri Lankan cricketers.

He said Adnan was arrested in connection with a bank robbery in Taunsa and later turned out to be involved in attack on Sri Lankan cricketers.

The DPO said the police were looking for one of the bank robbers who managed to escape on Saturday immediately after committing the robbery.

He told journalists, Adnan whose name was on 'Red book', a list of high-value militants, was nabbed on a tip-off in the jurisdiction of Raitra police station.

Adnan, a resident of Chah Fateh Hilal, Azamat Town, DG Khan, was wanted by police in a case registered in Gulberg police station under sections 109/395/427/186/353/324/302, 3/4 of the Explosives Act, and 7ATA following the assault on Sri Lankans, he added.

Mr Hiyat said Adnan was an operative of defunct Lashkar-i-Jhangvi's Amjad Farooqi group that committed robberies to finance its terror plans.

He said The bank robbery plan was hatched in Miram Shah by a militant, Saif Ullahh, who assigned the task to Adnan, Nuaman, Yousif and Umer. Talking to Dawn, Adnan's father, Qari Arshad said his son had been studying at a madressah, Farooq-i-Azam at Shah Saddar Din from where he went missing along with a fellow student, Zubair.

Qari said soon after the attack on Sri Lankan team in Lahore, law-enforcement agencies had picked him and his elder brother but they were later released. He said later he went to Dubai as following his detention he was sacked from his teaching job.

He claimed Adnan, who had three younger brothers, had no contact with his family for the at least last three years.