GUJRAT: The law-enforcement agencies (LEAs) claim to have made a breakthrough by arresting four members of an outlawed outfit who were involved in targeted killings in Gujrat during the last one year.

Those killed included a senior official of the University of Gujrat and a religious figure.Sources told Dawn on Tuesday that a security agency had arrested four men in connection with the targeted killings in the district. The suspects, they said, had been trained by the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and belonged to a banned sectarian outfit.

The LEAs were making efforts to capture the militants after the assassination of religious figure Fazeelat Shah (who was better known among his followers as Phul Shah). He, along with six of his devotees, was gunned down at Jassoki village in the Kunjah police precinct in September last year.

In another targeted attack, Prof Shabbir Hussain Shah, a senior official of the University of Gujrat, and his driver were killed in October last year.

A senior official confirmed the arrests but declined to reveal the identity of the suspects who were quizzed by a joint team of the police and a security agency. He said more arrests were expected as the LEAs were determined to breaking the back of the network.

Two of the arrested men are learnt to have targeted a trader belonging to Ahmadi community in Sara-i-Alamgir. The victim miraculously survived both attacks. A Gujrat police official was shot dead by the network near Jail Chowk on Aug 14 last.

Another source said arrests had been made in various parts of the district.

The UoG security officials had nabbed a suspected terrorist from the main gate of the Hafiz Hayat campus around three weeks ago as he was trying to sneak into the varsity campus during the annual sports gala where VC Dr Nizam, the Gujranwala commissioner and officials of the district government were present.

Investigators learnt that the suspect belonged to Rahim Yar Khan and agencies took his custody from the police to further probe him.

An alleged Indian agency agent was arrested by the local police in a shrine at Mohri Sharif village of Kharian around a month ago.