HYDERABAD/SHIKARPUR: Police and people foiled a major act of terror in Khanpur near Shikarpur on Tuesday, the first day of Eidul Azha, by killing a would-be suicide bomber and arresting another before they could detonate their suicide vests.

Three policemen were injured when one of the attackers detonated a grenade.

According to Syed Mohammad Shah Kazmi, the complainant in the FIR of the incident, the two would-be suicide bombers were spotted inside an Imambargah while people were arriving there for Eid prayers. “Clad in black shalwar kameez and draped with Sindhi Ajraks, they were sitting in the fourth and eighth rows,” he said.

“We noticed them and asked our scouts to search them. As they were subjected to body searches, one of them fled but the other was caught,” said Mr Kazmi, a member of the Shuhada Committee, formed after last year’s suicide attack in Shikarpur in which 63 people were killed.

The two were later identified as Abdul Rehman, 18 — who fled from the Imambargah — and Usman, 19, who was caught by people.

Rehman fled to another nearby Eid congregation of Sunni community and entered it. People’s chase of Rehman led to a stampede, alerting policemen present around the second Eid congregation.

They tried to intercept Rehman but he detonated a grenade, causing injuries to himself and three policemen. Another policeman fired at him at close range, killing him on the spot.

Police said that two suicide jackets containing 10kg explosives each were seized from the slain and arrested terrorists.

Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) SSP Raja Umer Khatab reached Shikarpur from Karachi to investigate the botched suicide bombings on the directive of the inspector general (IG) of Sindh.

IG A.D. Khowaja reached Khanpur from Karachi through a chopper. He ensured shifting of the injured policemen — who had been taken to Sukkur by that time — to Karachi by helicopter. The condition of one of them, Nazar Mohammad Malik, was said to be critical. The other two — Mohammad Rafiq Qureshi and Sher Mohammad Sanjrani — have been admitted to the Aga Khan Hospital in Karachi.

The IG spoke to leaders of the Shuhada Committee, during a blockade of the Indus Highway in protest against the botched suicide attacks, and promised a thorough investigation into the incident.

SHO removed

SHO of the Khanpur police station Baharuddin Keerio has been removed by police authorities following the incident. An FIR of the incident has been registered under sections 120-B, 324 and 353 of the Pakistan Penal Code, Sections 3 and 4 of the Explosive Substance Act and 6/7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act.

Mr Kazmi said that he had become a complainant in the case because police usually spoiled such cases. “They earlier spoilt a case pertaining to recovery of a large number of bombs in Shikarpur.”

“In Tuesday’s incident, the target was the Imambargah alone and that’s what we learnt in initial investigation,” Mr Kazmi said.

According to him, Usman has disclosed that there were four would- be suicide bombers. As per their plan, after Abdul Rehman and Usman were to blow themselves up, two others were to do the same after people gathered at the place. But the two other would-be suicide bombers fled.

Police said that the suspects nominated in the FIR included Usman, Hafeez, Umer, Abdullah and two unidentified suspects.

On Thursday, police produced Usman in the antiterrorism court in Shikarpur and obtained his three-day remand.

Shikarpur SSP Umer Tufail avoided sharing details of the investigation, saying doing so at this stage would compromise the probe.

However, he said that Usman and Abdul Rehman had been brought to Shikarpur by a man apparently using a fake name. “They had reached Shikarpur on a motorcycle after covering a distance of around three hours which shows that they had been staying somewhere near Jacobabad or a place close to Balochistan.”

Police sources said Usman had told his interrogators that he had studied in a seminary in Karachi’s Ittehad Town and originally belonged to Swat’s Kabal tehsil while Abdul Rehman was from Bajaur.

“Usman has disclosed that he belongs to the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan’s Swat faction. His father Akhtar Ali was killed in a drone attack in Afghanistan,” said a source connected with the investigation.

The source said that Usman and Abdul Rehman were brought to Balochistan’s Wadh area where they were handled by Maaz and Arif, who were from Karachi and associated with Lashkar-e-Jhangvi al-Aalmi. “Abdullah Brohi and Hafeez are also part of the network which handled Usman and Abdul Rehman in Wadh and brought them to Shikarpur,” added the source.

CTD SSP Raja Umer Khatab interrogated Usman. So did some police officials from Hyderabad. They interrogated Usman for his possible links with the militants involved in the July 22 bank robbery and killed in an alleged encounter. The militants had links with Al Qaeda and other banned militant organisations.

Published in Dawn, September 16th, 2016