QUETTA, July 27: A top leader of the banned Lashkar-i-Jhangvi was arrested on Sunday for his alleged involvement in several acts of terrorism of sectarian nature.

Shafiq-ur-Rehman was involved in suicide bombings on an Imambargah in 2003 and on an Ashura procession in 2004. The two attacks left over 100 people dead and about 180 injured, Capital City Police Officer Mohammad Akbar told a news conference.

On a tip-off, police raided a garage where Shafiq had come to get his vehicle repaired, the police officer said.

He said the man had confessed to his involvement in several attacks in the city. He also admitted to killing seven people including Advocate Mustafa Qureshi.

The CCPO said that Shafiq and his accomplice Usman Saifullah, who is still at large, had killed 12 police cadets in 2003. Besides, he said, the two were involved in the murders of Dr Saqlain Naqvi, Abdul Ghafoor Zargar and in the recent killing of some people of the Hazara community.

He said the Court for Suppression of Terrorist Activities had sentenced him to life imprisonment. Shafiq was arrested in 2003 during a raid in Mastung, but he and Usman Saifullah escaped from Anti-Terrorist Force’s cantonment area jail in January this year.

The CCPO also said police had busted a terrorist network involved in the Manan Chowk bomb blast.