KARACHI, April 2: The Adviser to the Chief Minister on Information and Archives, Salahuddin Haider, has said the police in a raid early Saturday morning recovered arms, 37 petrol- and chemical-filled one litre plastic bottles, and four bags of explosives weighing 250 grams each from the Idara Noor-i-Haq, the headquarters of the Jamaat-i-Islami.

He said this in a statement issued on Saturday. The adviser said FIR No 94/2005 had been registered for keeping explosives, while a case was registered against four persons under the arms act. Four persons with TT pistols and 18 rounds had also been taken into custody.

Eight persons namely Kaleemur Rehman s/o Khalilur Rehman, M Asghar s/o Mohammad Ahmed, Badar Iraj s/o Mirajuddin, Mehmood Hamid s/o Mohammad Hamid, Mohammad Aslam Mujahid s/o Allah Noor, Mohammad Iqbal s/o Abdul Hafeez, Mohammad Rashid Qureshi s/o Mirajuddin and Zafar Iqbal s/o Islamuddin have been arrested, while Gul Muhammad Soomro, Sikander Asad, Rehan Abid Ali and Atif Bashir managed to escape, the adviser informed.

The police also recovered three bundles of books in which people have been asked which brand of Islam they wanted in Pakistan — whether that of President General Pervez Musharraf, President Bush, or the Holy Prophet Muhammad (SAW), Mr Haider maintained. The police also recovered pamphlets appealing to people for the April 2nd countrywide strike, he said.

The adviser, referring to the strike call given by the MMA, stated that bakeries, eating houses, grocery shops and shopping centres were open and it was business as usual in the city, while the traffic too was normal on the road.

He added that a large number of people were seen in New Karachi, Quaidabad, Defence and in Clifton areas going to their offices and business places.

These positive steps, he added, indicated the confidence and steps taken by the provincial government in particular by the governor and the chief minister Sindh with regard to the protection and safety of people, which had resulted in people rejecting the MMA strike call, particularly that of the Jamaat-i-Islami, who were desperately trying to regain control over Karachi after losing it from 1988 onwards.—PPI