KARACHI: The Sindh police on Tuesday claimed to have arrested a suspected militant belonging to the banned Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) for his alleged involvement in facilitating a number of terrorist attacks and killing several people during his 10-year association with the proscribed outfit.

In a statement, the Counter-Terrorism Department said that a key BLA member, Asif Brohi alias Don, was arrested in a raid on his hideout in Saeedabad near Northern Bypass, which also led to the recovery of an AK-47 assault rifle.

“Asif Brohi alias Abdullah is not only the facilitator of several terrorist attacks but also a key man of the BLA,” said the CTD statement. “Investigators were closely monitoring the suspect and finally found his connection with several terrorist activities. Between 2011 and 2019, he killed six people in different Balochistan districts. He executed these jobs on the directives of BLA commander Shafiq ur Rehman Mengal. Apart from killing different individuals, he was actively involved in collecting extortion to raise funds for the banned outfit.”

The statement carried details of the suspect’s activities since 2012 saying he collected extortion amounting to Rs56.7 million from different businessmen and traders of Balochistan and in couple of instances he had even kidnapped his targets to get the ransom.

CTD claims suspect raised Rs56.7m funds for the outlawed outfit by means of extortion

“Asif Brohi joined the BLA in 2009 after he was approached and convinced by Mohammad Bux Somlani — one of the key members of the banned organisation,” said the statement. “After joining the BLA, he was immediately sent to its centre for military training in Wadh, a town in Khuzdar district. Apart from his criminal and militant activities in Balochistan, he was also wanted in multiple cases of murders, extortion and kidnapping for ransom in Karachi,” it added.

Six held for motorbike thefts

The Anti-Vehicle Lifting Cell (AVLC) of the Sindh police on Tuesday claimed to have arrested six motorcycle thieves, adds PPI.

SSP Arif Aslam Rao said in a statement that the suspects were allegedly involved in stealing motorcycles in the city.

He said that seven stolen motorcycles were recovered from them. The arrested suspects were identified as Rana Niaz, Ashiq Ali, Tahir Sakhro, Danish, Haider Ali and Ali Anwar.

All the suspects were wanted by Karachi police in various criminal cases, the SSP said, adding that suspect Ashiq was a big buyer of stolen motorbikes and he used to sell them in Sujawal and different areas in Sindh without documents.

He said that suspect Haider was previously arrested 14 times in motorcycle theft cases.

He said suspect Sakhro committed most of the robberies in Bin Qasim, Quaidabad, Landhi, Malir and Khokhrapar. Niaz belonged to a large gang and specialised in motorcycle theft. Suspect Anwar was an accomplice of the criminals, he added.

Published in Dawn, April 21st, 2021