LAHORE, March 29: Capital City Police Chief (CCPO) Mohammad Aslam Tareen claimed on Tuesday to have arrested another six suspected terrorists belonging to Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan in connection with the deadly attack on the visiting Sri Lankan cricket team here in March 2009.They had been declared proclaimed offenders and police, he said, were aggressively looking for them since the incident.
The CCPO told reporters that the alleged mastermind of the attack --- Amanullah alias Asadullah — was among the six arrested terrorists. The others were identified as Ubaidullah alias Zubair, M. Rasheed, Mohammad Javed Anwar alias Chaudhry, Qari Mohammad Ashfaq and Umaid-ur-Rehman Qamar alias Zubair.
Four of them had taken part in the Liberty Chowk attack. Police found suicide jackets, rocket-launchers, Kalashnikovs, hand-grenades and other lethal weapons in their possession.
DIG Investigation Ali Amir Malik, SSP Investigation Abdul Razaq Cheema and CIA SP Umer Virk were present on the occasion.
Mr Tareen said the terrorists had planned to kidnap the Sri Lankan team and keep them hostage till the release of some important Taliban leaders arrested by law-enforcement agencies. But they changed their plan after they encountered police resistance.Around a dozen alleged terrorists had been arrested earlier, he said, adding that Aqeel alias Dr Usman, Khalid ur Rehman alias Andha and Usman alias Gull Khan were arrested when they attacked the GHQ and two other major accused, Zubair alias Naik Muhammad and Abul Wahab alias Umer, were nabbed by CIA police a few months after the attack on Sri Lankan team.
The CCPO said the arrests had been made on the basis of information provided by arrested terrorists and with the help of CCTV footages of the Liberty attack and other evidences. Those arrested belonged to Toba Tek Singh, Karachi and Bahawalpur.
Mr Tareen said that weapons used in the Liberty attack had been brought from Faisalabad.
Amanullah and his accomplice Mahmood ul Hassan had brought the weapons from Miranshah and stocked them in Faisalabad and later transported them to Lahore.