PESHAWAR, May 8: The claim by the criminal investigation department (CID) of the NWFP government that it arrested a group of assassins hired to kill top MMA leaders appears to be in dispute.
Investigations carried out by Dawn suggested an entirely different story.
The AIG, CID, Mr. Sajid Ali Khan, had told a news conference on Thursday at the CID headquarters that his men had arrested three Afghans for plotting to eliminate senior MMA leaders.
The arrests, Mr. Sajid told newsmen, were made on Tuesday in raids conducted in different parts of Peshawar.
He did not name the MMA leaders allegedly on the target list, but some CID officials had privately claimed that they included JUI-F leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman, JUI-S leader Maulana Samiul Haq and former MNA Maulana Hassan Jan.
What the CID sleuths did not say was that Ahmad Shah alias Allah Noor and Rozi Khan, the two main characters in the alleged assassination plot, had been in CID custody for well over a month.
Records available with different police stations and the Central Prison Peshawar could discredit the CID claim and the conspiracy theory fall apart when the case is taken to court.
Investigations reveal that Allah Noor and Rozi Khan had not only been in CID custody for quite some time.
Interrogators are also said to have discovered that the assassination plot was no more than a crude attempt by the accused to frame a money changer named Bangul in Chowk Yadgar, Peshawar's main money exchange market.
Bangul, who is alleged to have provided Rs. 4 million to eliminate the MMA leaders surprisingly has not been arrested and he continues to live and run his business in Peshawar.
The CID investigators, according to an insider, also chose to leave out another principal player, Azizullah, in the plot. The twist came when the CID heeded the advice of the legal department, and handed over the accused to the Nasirbagh Police Station, Peshawar, where he was wanted in a murder case.
Allah Noor, a notorious hired assassin and robber, was formally charged under Section 302 on April 18 and sent to the Central Jail, Peshawar.
On April 19, he was taken to Sardheri Police Station, Charsadda, to face investigations in certain cases involving him and was brought back to the Central Jail with additional charges under Sections 324, 458, 148, 3AO, 149 and 7SIA/188.
Allah Noor was again taken out of the Central Prison on April 27 to undergo interrogation for his alleged involvement in certain cases in Rustam Police Station, Mardan.
He was returned to the Central Prison, Peshawar on April 29 with two more charges under Sections 380 and 459.
According to the record, the CID again sought police custody of Allah Noor through a warrant on May 4. The accused was moved from the Central Prison accordingly and taken to the CID. That day, the AIG CID, apparently under pressure from the high ups, broke the news of foiling an attempt to kill MMA leaders.
The accused, according to the CID's own record, were arrested on May 4 and formally charged under FIR. No. 13 under Sections 120 (B), 124 (A), 14 Foreigners Act, 6 (1) 6(2D), 6(2F) Anti Terrorism Act.
According to some officials, the charges were framed against the accused despite advice by the legal department that the case was weak and it is would not stand the court for even a few days.
In a further twist to this bizarre episode, an attempt was also made to link it to the rocket attack on the CID post in Peshawar on Peshawar.
Sources said that Allah Noor was under detention at the CID post when it came under rocket attack.
Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani was made to believe about the conspiracy to kill MMA leaders and its link with the rocket attack, which if true, would have killed the main character behind the whole plot.
So Provincial Law Minister Malik Zafar Azam told reporters in Hangu on Thursday that the rocket attacks on Peshawar were the result of the arrest of a dangerous terrorist of a neighbouring country.
The CID blamed a neighbouring country for hatching the conspiracy, but Allah Noor had reportedly told interrogators he had made up the plan to frame Bangul at the behest of the latter's London-based rival.
Clearly, the CID and those behind the move to earn accolades for foiling the 'conspiracy' had not thought through the whole case.