PESHAWAR: An anti-terrorism court here on Tuesday remanded a suspected facilitator of a suicide bombing in Khyber tribal district into custody of Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) for seven days.

The court directed that the suspect identified as Inamullah should be again produced on May 9. The suspect was produced amid strict security in the court.

The investigation officer told the court that the suspect was arrested in connection with the January 19 suicide bombing at Takhta Baig checkpost in Jamrud, Khyber, which had left three policemen killed and several others injured.

He said that the suspect facilitated the suicide bomber, who blew himself in the checkpost, and his handlers in the commission of the offence. He stated that they needed physical custody of the suspect so as to interrogate him about his other accomplices.

Last month, CTD had also claimed to have arrested six other suspects involved in the occurrence.

Similarly, the law enforcement agencies had also reportedly killed in an encounter a key suspect in the case identified as Satana Jan, a resident of Jamrud tehsil.

One of the suspects had reportedly told the investigators that the suicide bomber was an Afghan national and he was brought to Pakistan by Satana Jan, who had also provided him weapon and suicide vest.

Meanwhile, the court sent to prison on 14-day judicial remand a lawyer arrested few days ago by CTD on charges of demanding extortion from one of his relatives in the name of a proscribed organisation.

The FIR of the alleged occurrence was registered at CTD police station on April 27 on complaint of Kashif Qasim, who claimed that he received a letter on February 11 from an anonymous person, who asked him to pay Rs5 million as extortion money, failing which he and his family would be blown in an explosion.

The complainant alleged that few days later he received another letter wherein it was mentioned that if he did not pay the money then he should hand over two of his minor sons to them to be kept at a seminary in a tribal district and would be used as suicide bombers at some suitable time.

The complainant suspected that his relative Advocate Mohammad Anwar Khalil was involved in sending threatening letters to him and demanding extortion by using the name of Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan. Following initial inquiry, CTD arrested the lawyer.

Peshawar Bar Association had condemned the arrest and also observed strike in local courts on April 29.

The association had denied the allegations against the suspect and claimed that he was an elder and was having property dispute with his cousins due to which he was implicated in a fake case.

Published in Dawn, May 3rd, 2023