The Counterterrorism Department (CTD) has arrested an alleged terrorist affiliated with the Sindh Revolutionary Army (SRA), who officials said had been involved in “subversive activities” in Sindh.

The CTD produced the suspect Munir Abro before a Hyderabad anti-terrorism court on Wednesday which remanded him in the custody of the police for five days.

CTD SSP Asif Bughio told Dawn.com that the suspect, a resident of Ghotki, was “involved in subversive activities since 2012”. “He had been carrying out explosions in high transmission lines and railway tracks until last year,” Bughio said.

He said that 295g of explosives, three detonators, ball bearings and several fake national identity cards were recovered from the suspect’s possession.

The SSP said that some untraced cases had also been resolved after arresting the suspect. “He was picked up from an area in Jamshoro district on Tuesday night,” said the police officer.

In a press release, the CTD claimed that Munir was arrested following an intelligence-based operation. He was subsequently charged under the Explosive Act 1908, and the Anti-terrorism Act 1997.

The CTD termed the suspect to be the SRA’s operational commander for Sindh. “Munir became part of the SRA after being motivated by Zulfikar Khaskheli and is an expert in producing improvised explosive devices (IED). He is a master in using various kinds of weaponry,” the CTD statement said.

The statement further said that Munir was the right-hand man of SRA commander Asghar Shah and was in contact with the SRA leadership, including Zulfikar Khaskheli, Mashooq Qambrani and Noor Chandio.

According to the CTD, the suspect used to carry out subversive activities after taking money from “anti-Pakistan forces and was [attempting] to divide Sindh”.

The CTD said he was involved in blasts on railway tracks, transmission lines pylons and attacks on law enforcers’ vehicles.

The department also disclosed that Munir had travelled to India in 2016 via Sindh’s Badin district and stayed there for 52 days where he received training by officials from the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and the National Directorate of Security (NDS) for sabotaging peace, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and targeting the Chinese.

The CTD said this included an attack on a vehicle carrying Chinese nationals in Sukkur. The statement further said that the suspect was also involved in an IED blast in Karachi’s Quaidabad, in 2018, adding that he had also planted an IED near Sindh University Jamshoro in 2017.

The statement further said that Abro travelled to Afghanistan under Asghar Shah’s directives in 2012 to be trained in preparing IEDs with the support of the Balochistan Liberation Army.