HYDERABAD: Jamshoro Police on Wednesday claimed the arrest of three activists belonging to outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan's (TTP) Shaharyar group in a pre-dawn raid on Wednesday. Police also claimed the recovery of hand grenades, weapons and explosives with chemicals from the arrested men.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Jamshoro Tariq Wilayat confirmed to Dawn that the raid was conducted in Sikandarabad area of Jamshoro district's Kotri taluka, where three men – Gul Zareen, Bahauddin and Shahuddin – were nabbed.

Five hand grenades, two TT pistols, 10kg of explosives, 10kg of chemicals and a bundle of detonating cords were also seized.

The raid was conducted in the area which is predominantly inhabited by the Pakhtun community and according to the SSP, the activists had been living in the locality for the past two months.

Gul Zareen was facilitating the other two, who had arrived from South Waziristan Agency, he disclosed.

"Bahauddin and Shahuddin belong to South Waziristan's Kot Kai area and both are associated with TTP Shaharyar group," Wilayat said.

He explained that Shahuddin is the TTP's deputy commander of Kot Kai while Bahauddin has been allegedly involved in extortion activities as he used to distribute extortion chits in Kati Pahari and Sohrab Goth in Karachi.

“Shahuddin is also an expert in planting mines and preparing improvised explosive devices (IEDs),” the SSP claimed while quoting the initial disclosures of the arrested suspects.

A police source claimed one Najeebullah, said to be a TTP commander, had left for South Waziristan 15 days back from Jamshoro. Police had first picked up Bahauddin, three hours before the raid, and on the basis of the information provided by him, the other two suspects were arrested separately.

Gul Zareen, who teaches the Holy Quran at a seminary, was picked-up from a shop.

The arrested men initially told police that they were working as truck drivers but police dismissed their statements and cross-questioned them.

A formal investigation will also be initiated and a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) will be formed to interrogate the arrested men.

The raid and arrests followed information sharing between police and intelligence agencies.

SSP Wilayat disclosed that a Bomb Disposal Squad team has been called to examine the chemical, which is in solid form, in order to identify it.

The SSP said that the investigation would also help in identifying who facilitated the activists in obtaining a rented house.