LAHORE, May 30: Law-enforcement agencies on Monday picked up three men from Sargodha reportedly on suspicion of having links to Islamabad suicide attack. A senior Sargodha police officer confirmed the arrests, but he would not disclose further details. “As far as the arrests I can confirm them. I do not know as to who were the people picked up in the raid. Nor do I know as to what agency was involved in the raid,” the officer said.

However, an intelligence source identified the arrested men as Zafar Iqbal, Mansoor Ahmad and Saeed alias Mistri. He alleged the three men belonged to the outlawed Lashkar-i-Jhangvi (LJ), and might have some links to the suicide attack at the shrine of Bari Imam. He claimed Mansoor was the real man wanted in the raid.

The source said Zafar Iqbal had harboured the other two suspects, who were arrested from one of his houses in Sillanwali bazaar. Zafar, however, claimed in initial questioning that the two men were his relatives and had asked for the place some weeks ago.

The source said the arrested men were immediately shifted to Lahore for further investigation.