LAHORE–CIA Police successfully apprehended a fake terrorist on Tuesday, hours after the self proclaimed militant had threatened a trader to bomb his home if he refused to pay Rs30 million.
Resident of Misri Shah Muhammad Rehan, a trader of iron, had told the CIA wing about a letter placed outside his home on 17th February, in which Rs 30 million were demanded by TTP, Punjab Chapter.
“A militant phoned me on February 19 and introduced himself as a member of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and demanded the aforesaid amount otherwise he threatened to blow my home,” the victim told SP CIA Captain Liaqat Ali Malik. He further said that he remained fearful of the consequences, when he could not arrange such a huge amount.
Rehan revealed that a cracker blast took place outside his home on March 10, around 4:30am. The culprit phoned him around 1 pm on the same day and warned him that the next explosion would not be of such a low intensity.This time, Rehan approached the Misri Shah Police area and registered an FIR under section 386 of 25/D Telegraph Act.
The case was referred to SP CIA, who constituted a special team under the supervision of DSP Anti-Terrorism Squad and Kidnapping for Ransom Branch. The CIA Police teams collected necessary information and mobile records of the calls made by the alleged member of TTP. “Ultimately, we succeeded in arresting an accused namely Khizer Shahzad, of Garhi Shahu on Tuesday,” SP CIA told this reporter. During preliminary interrogation, the culprit Khizer, a schoolteacher by profession, confessed to committing the crime. “This was his first attempt, which remained unsuccessful due to the timely action by the CIA,” SP CIA stated. He further said that although the main culprit has been arrested, search was underway to find his possible accomplices.
The SP said, “This is an Opportunity-Crime, which is usually committed by students, this is the first time that a teacher has been found involved in such a crime”. According to him, the culprit used to teach in schools and different private academies before coming up with the plan to earn easy money.
Later, CCPO Lahore Ahmed Raza Tahir announced cash prizes and commendatory certificates for the police teams involved in the arrest and strongly appreciated the efforts of the ATS and CIA.
Meanwhile, DIG (Operations) Lahore Ghulam Mahmood Dogar deputed a good number of police contingents outside the home of Rehan in Misri Shah. The DIG maintained that the purpose behind this security cover was to pass a message to the terrorists that Lahore Police can provide security to the citizens.
(The Nation)
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