LAHORE: Police claimed on Friday to have busted a network of terrorists-cum-target killers associated with the outlawed Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and another outfit.

It arrested eight terrorists including a traffic warden and seized a huge quantity of explosives, suicide jackets, laptops and illegal weapons.

Police identified the arrested suspects as Shafique Shah of Fazal Colony, Bund Road, warden Muhammad Azam of Ravi Road, Saqib Anjum, Obaidullah, Muhammad Aftab, Qari Mushtaq, Hafiz Azeem and Qari Asif Mahmood.

Most of the arrested are said to be associated with those six members of banned Lashkar-i-Jhangvi who were captured last month and were produced before the media. They were also taken into ‘custody’ by the Crimes Investigation Agency last month but their arrests were not made public for further investigation, Dawn learnt on Friday.

Two important members of the alleged terrorist network --Haroon Bhatti and Saeed of Kot Pindi Das, Sheikhupura -- are still absconders, police sources say and claim the recent arrests were made possible only after the arrested suspects disclosed their plans to target some senior policemen and known figures from different segments of society.

Capital City Police Officer Chauhdry Shafique told a news conference that a ‘terror plot’ had been averted as eight arrested suspects had planned to kill religious and important personalities, senior journalists, doctors, lawyers and senior police officers, and that they had completed surveillance of around 39 targets besides some important buildings and international companies’ offices.

The suspects used to contact each other through emails and had been using several internet cafes of the city for communication. They also used to contact their accomplices in Afghanistan through the net.

The CCPO said the network had also planned to carry out a pressure-cooker blast and suicide attacks during a national anthem ceremony in the Punjab University in winter, but cancellation of the programme failed their mission.

He said two suicide bombers, who had to hit the ceremony, stayed at the Rehmanpura (Ichhra) residence of Qari Asif Mahmood who is a tutor at Jamia Qasmia, Rehmanpura.

He said Shafique Shah joined a banned militant outfit in 1992, operated along terrorists wanted in several cases and was currently playing a central role in planning terrorist activities after joining the TTP.

Similarly, warden Azam of Ravi Road, who joined a banned outfit before his selection as warden, also acted as an informer to target senior police officers and important government buildings. Azam’s father was a police inspector.

The CCPO said the suspects, who brought a huge quantity of explosives and arms from Waziristan, had planned to kidnap or kill foreigners to damage the country’s image and abduct members of elite class for fund raising.

A senior police investigator told Dawn that the CIA police with the help of an intelligence agency first picked warden Azam and later Qari Asif Mahmood around 50 days ago and came to know about other members of the network involved in a series of target killings in the provincial capital since May 2012.He said police then captured Shafique Shah and his two accomplices from Waziristan and later took others into custody, bringing the total arrests to 14.

The officer said the CIA police earlier captured sharp shooter Abdur Rauf Gujjar, who was directly involved in the assassination of Maulana Shamsur Rehman Moawia, Allama Nasir Abbas, Advocate Shakir Ali Rizvi and others.

He said Rauf and his five accomplices were directly linked with recently arrested terrorists Shafique Shah and Qari Asif.

The officer said one Saeed, who provided weapons to Rauf to kill renowned personalities in Lahore, and Haroon, who introduced Rauf to Malik Ishaq and the TTP, were still on the run and were a potential threat to law-enforcement agencies.

Published in Dawn, May 17th, 2014