LAHORE, Dec 24: Police claimed on Friday to have made the biggest-ever weapons haul on the Christmas eve. Among the seized material were explosive, rockets, hand grenades and anti-aircraft bullets , police investigation chief SSP Chaudhry Shafqaat told Dawn.

"Certainly, they had plans to commit terrorism. The weapons seized from them are not toys," he said without elaborating on any specific targets. "The arrested men seemed to be weapon smugglers, who were to hand over the consignment to some other people."

They were involved in the illegal weapon market, which made supplies to terror networks, he said of the two arrested men, Kashif Khurshid and Faisal Munir, both residents of Lahore. Their third accomplice, Gulfam, managed his escape.

He said a team, headed by SP Waseem Khan, arrested them during a raid at Mian Mir Colony near The Mall. "We have been working on the case for weeks. We had information and clues to move ahead," the SP said. He added a suspected rickshaw was chased and stopped at the colony and the culprits were held.

He said the arrested men were being quizzed for clues that could lead to more arrests. The police chief said the haul included 10 Russian strips of explosive, six rocket rounds with detonating fuels, 52 hand grenades and 425 anti-aircraft bullets.

On identification, he added, a house was raided from where 50 kilograms of hashish was recovered. The suspects have been booked under the explosive and the anti-terrorism acts. Further investigation is under way.