QUETTA: The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) of police has claimed to have arrested the suspected killer of former chief justice of the Balochistan High Court and Federal Shariat Court, retired Justice Mohammad Noor Meska­nzai, along with another suspect.

Shafqatullah Yalanzai, who belongs to the banned Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) outfit, confessed to killing the former chief justice, said Balochistan CTD chief Atizaz Gorayia at a press conference, on Saturday.

Justice Meskanzai was assassinated on Oct 14 when he was offering evening prayers at a mosque in his native Kharan town and BLA had claimed responsibility for the attack.

DIG Gorayia said the joint investigation team visited the site of crime and after geofencing and collecting evidences reached the suspect and arrested Shafqatullah Yalanzai and his accomplice Abdul Rahim Yalanzai from the Kharan area. Arms and ammunition were seized from their possession, he added.

CTD chief says no camp of IS exists in Balochistan

“The suspect during investigation confessed to his association with BLA and involvement in terrorist activities and gave information about other members of the organisation and its networks,” Mr Gorayia claimed, adding the suspect also confessed to his involvement in various other terrorist attacks, including grenade attacks on the office of a sensitive agency, police stations and motorbike blast in Chief Chowk, Kharan.

The official said the suspect claimed he had obtained training in the Saravan area of Iran in 2020 and his commander was also in Iran from whom he had received instructions. The CTD, he said, arrested 666 suspects in the last one year.

He said the courts sent 121 of them to jail, released 36 on bail, while as many as 158 were absconding in different cases. He said the courts acquitted some suspects arrested by the CTD.

He denied the existence of camps of militant Islamic State group, also known as ISIS, in Balochistan, but said the presence of their members could not be ruled out.

“Many CTD personnel have lost their lives and got injured during different operations against terrorist organisations,” the CTD chief said.

The suspects killed in the Kharan operation were involved in terrorist acts and the CTD police seized 12 mortar shells of 82mm during the operation.

Replying to a question, the official said everyone killed in the operation could not be considered a ‘missing person’.

In the past, he said, it was alleged some of those killed in security operations were ‘missing persons’, but they were later found to be alive.

Published in Dawn, October 30th, 2022