QUETTA, Nov 29: Police on Monday arrested an alleged Chechen terrorist who had attacked police and other people with a hand-grenade after failing to rob a money-changer in the Qandahri bazaar.

"The Chechen national came from Wana along with other companions," Balochistan IGP Chaudhary Yaqoob told Dawn. He said that a team of police officers was interrogating the suspect.

According to reports, four armed men entered the shop of a money-changer in the Qandahri bazaar and asked the owner at gunpoint to hand over the cash he had. But the money-changer, Gulab Shah, refused and offered resistance.

The armed men tried to overpower him, during which one of them opened fire and injured Gulab Shah. After the firing, they tried to escape and when Mr Shah, despite suffering a bullet injury, and some other people chased him, one of the accused hurled the hand-grenade. It exploded, but no one was injured.

However, police patrolling the area caught the man who had hurled the grenade, with people's help. Initial investigations showed that the accused, identified as Abdul Ghafar, was a Chechen. He and some other Chechens had escaped from South Waziristan and taken shelter in Quetta, after the military action in the tribal areas.