PESHAWAR: An anti-terrorism court here on Saturday remanded a would-be suicide bomber, arrested in connection with the devastating bombing at Peshawar’s police lines, in custody of Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) for 10 days.

The court directed the investigation officer to again produce the suspect identified as Imtiaz alias Thora Shpa (dark night) on March 27.

The suspect was produced in the court amid tight security measures in and around the judicial complex, where the court is situated.

The officials of CTD requested the court for physical custody of the suspect, stating that he was a key figure in the occurrence and his custody was required for interrogation.

They stated that a suicide bomber blew himself up inside a mosque at Peshawar’s police lines on January 30, which left 84 persons, mostly police personnel, martyred and 233 others injured.

The arrest of the suspect was made public by AIG Shaukat Abbas at a media briefing on March 17.

“We have also arrested a second bomber who’d have carried out the attack had the first attacker failed to hit the target,” Mr Abbas had stated.

He had said that the ‘bomber in the waiting’ identified as Imtiaz was a resident of Shonkry in Mohmand tribal district, an area near the border with Afghanistan.

He claimed that the attack was carried out by Jamatul Ahrar, an allied organisation of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan and the planning was carried out in Afghanistan.

Published in Dawn, March 19th, 2023