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Published 18 Jun, 2009 12:00am

Sri Lankan team attack suspect held

LAHORE, June 17 Police claimed on Wednesday to have broken a 'Punjabi Taliban' network and arrested a man for his alleged involvement in a terrorist attack on Sri Lankan cricket team who was seen on CCTV footages killing a traffic warden with a gun.

The suspect, identified as Zubair alias Naik Muhammad of Dera Ghazi Khan, was arrested from Madina Colony in Lahore. He was among the seven terrorists who had attacked the Sri Lankan team with an aim to kidnap them.

With his face covered, Zubair was produced before the journalists.

According to a police handout, Zubair was taken into custody on Wednesday, but according to a source, he was picked up by an official of a sensitive agency a month ago, interrogated and handed over to police for trial.

Capital City Police official Pervez Rathore told a news conference at Qila Gujjar Singh Police Lines that Aqeel alias Dr Usman of Kahota who masterminded the attack on the foreign team was also behind the anti-aircraft gun attack on former president Pervez Musharraf's plane in Rawalpindi.

He said a high profile police investigation team found that the planning of attack was finalised at Tauheed Hostel on Wahdat Road and a rented house in Madina Colony near Cavalry Ground.

During checking of Tauheed Hostel, the police recovered clothes of Aqeel he wore during the attack.

Aqeel asked his roommate to switch on television as Sri Lankan cricket team was under attack and later disappeared from the hostel after changing clothes.

Dr Khalid, owner of the hostel, told the police that Aqeel took the room under the name of Rana Muhammad Haneef and submitted his identity card with the same name.

Zubair told the police that he was working as a waiter at a hotel in Rawalpindi when a man Saifullah, who used to come to the hotel, convinced him for Jihad.

He was taken to Miran Shah where he was trained by Saifullah and Badar Mansoor Ustad to use pistol, Kalashnikov and LMG.

He also met a Taliban leader Qari Aslam and Punjabi Taliban Tehrik Ameer Farooq at Miran Shah in 2008 where Qari Ajmal and Farooq prepared Zubair for a suicide attack in coming 10 days.

The CCPO said Aqeel and the remaining accused, who were identified as Samiullah alias Ejaz of district Nankana, Adnan alias Sajjad, Ajmal alias Ahsaan, Farooq, ameer of Punjab Taliban, and Umer alias Abdul Wahab of D I Khan, were still at large.

He told a questioner that the police had a complete data of the absconders but they might have slipped to Waziristan agency or had gone underground.

He said Aqeel had got training from Tehrik Taliban Pakistan chief Baitullah Mehsood.

He said Samiullah had bought two auto rickshaws used in Liberty attack.

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