LARKANA: Police on Monday claimed to have traced out and arrested Yusuf Chandio — a suspected terrorist having links with his Sindh Revolutionary Army (SRA) handler Asghar Shah — in an action carried out in coordination with several law-enforcement agencies.

Larkana SSP Imran Qureshi told a press conference that Chandio was wanted by police in the Aug 13 killing of a local citizen, Tanveer Rajput, and injuring another one, Taj Mohammed Pathan.

He said Chandio, a resident of Bakrani Road, maintained links with Asghar Shah, who had been operating from Afghanistan until recently and said to be still living there. He was paid Rs30,000 for Mr Rajput’s murder, he added.

The SSP said Chandio’s gang, comprising five terrorists, was also involved in an armed attack on the car of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-F (JUI-F) leader Abdul Qadir Siyal along Indus Highway.

He said police had obtained the closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage of the incident which showed Chandio and his associates, Nisar and Nadeem Mirjat, carrying out the attack and then driving away by a motorcycle parked nearby. Both the associates had already been arrested, he added. The other members of the gang would be arrested soon, he hoped.

Meanwhile, the Civil Lines police produced Yusuf Chandio in the Larkana Anti-Terrorism Court and obtained his three-day remand in police custody for further investigation.

Published in Dawn, August 31st, 2021