RAWALPINDI: The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) raided a house over the weekend in Shadi Khan Village in Attock where they believed the suicide bomber who killed Punjab’s home minister, retired Col Shuja Khanzada, had stayed for several days before committing the crime.

A source close to the investigation said the residents of the house, known as dera of Amjad, said they knew nothing about the guest as he had stayed in an outer room of the housing complex. The room had remained locked for most of his two-week stay.

Although the identity of the suicide bomber is unknown, Amjad was among the four suspected terrorists the police killed in an encounter in Sherakot area of Lahore on October 1.

Amjad’s dera is situated not far from the dera of Col Khanzada where he, along with dozens of others, was killed in the terrorist attack on August 16.

According to the source the attack was planned for August 9 but Col Khanzada, a native of Attock like Amjad, left the village earlier than he had planned. On August 16, the suicide bomber reached the place within 30 minutes of his target’s arrival there for interaction with his constituents.

Dozens of them were killed when the bomber blew himself close to Col Khanzada who was in-charge of the reinvigorated anti-terror campaign in Punjab.

Qasim Muavia, a member of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan’s local affiliate group run by Qari Sohail, was said to have facilitated the attack by spying on Col Khanzada. Muavia, associated with a local madressah, was put on the CTD’s ‘most wanted’ list, and was arrested in an extensive effort in which ISI contributed the most, the source said.

Interrogators found Muavia to be not-much educated “but sharp in mind”.

A CTD spokesman claimed that Qari Sohail masterminded the August 16 suicide bombing and named Muavia, Amjad, Fayaz, Naz Zaheer, Talha, Imran Sattar, Sadaqat and Saddam as ‘local’ facilitators.

Attock district police had investigated the Qari Sohail group for involvement in targeted killings when the force was headed by District Police Officer Israr Ahmed Abbasi but could not capture Sohail, the source said.

Published in Dawn, October 13th, 2015

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