KARACHI: The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) of police on Saturday arrested three suspects allegedly belonging to a banned outfit, which was involved in killings and attempted murders in Karachi and Quetta.

Acting on a tip-off, the CTD team conducted a raid near a bakery in Saddar and arrested Yusuf, Akbar and Masoom and seized three donation chits from them, said CTD DIG Saqib Ismail Memon.

Addressing a press conference at his office, the officer claimed that the held suspects were involved in fundraising and associated with the militant wing of a banned outfit that had carried out killings and attempted murders in Karachi and Quetta.

During the initial probe, the held suspects disclosed that on January 25, 2014, they made an attempt on the life of Mohammed Husain in Clifton in which he was wounded.

The victim was admitted to a private hospital in the city from where he was discharged and when he was coming out of the hospital building, he was again attacked by the same suspects at the main gate of the hospital in which he was killed, the police said.

the suspects had also ‘confessed’ to the involvement in targeted killings in Quetta, the officer added.

Speaking to Dawn, Additional IG CTD Dr Sanaullah Abbasi revealed that the “suspects were trained and supported by a foreign country”.

They were part of a ‘proxy war’ fought on the soil of Karachi, he added.

He said this was a solid case of “terror financing having international links”.

The CTD had unearthed the money trail across the border, he said and added that the suspects were part of the “hybrid war unleashed on Pakistan”.

Published in Dawn, April 29th, 2018