PESHAWAR: Peshawar Police on Sunday foiled a smuggling attempt of a huge cache of deadly weapons and narcotics from the Tribal Area to Karachi, and arrested three members of a terrorist gang. Police Chief Tanvirul Haq Sipra told journalists during a press conference that after a preliminary investigation it was found that the arms were aimed at using in sabotage activities in Karachi. âIn the light of information gathered from the terrorists, other member of the network will be arrested soon,â he claimed.
| Sounds painful. I hope they used pliers... |
He said the accused were not [hired] carriers but the members of a gang and it would help the police nab the rest of the gang in Sindh and the North West Frontier Province (NWFP). He said two of the accused belonged to the Frontier while one hailed from Sindh. He said he had informed about the Sindh Police chief about the breakthrough. Kabuli Police led by Deputy Superintendent Chaudhry Ashraf and SHO Muhammad Riaz Khan seized the arms and narcotics from a Karachi-bound passenger bus and arrested Habib Khan Arbab Tapo and Mushtaq Ahmad, from Lakki Marwat and Mumtaz Ali, both from Ghumbat Tehsil, and Khirpure, Sindh, he added. The arms recovered during the raid included 3,400 anti-aircraft shells, eight rocket launchers shells, 340 rounds of 44-bore, 440 rounds of 7-mm, 200 rounds of 8-mm, three AK-47 assault rifles, 10 pistols of 30-bore, spare parts of pistols and 20 hand grenades. The police claimed all were foreign made. They also recovered four kilogrammes of heroin, 200kg of opium.
| They checked all that as luggage at the bus station? |
Mr Sipra said the accused had disclosed the names of some of their accomplices in the Frontier and Sindh during the investigation but refused to give details to the press due to security reasons. âThese are deadly arms and usually used in terrorist and sabotage activities,â he said. âAccording to its size and composition, this is the largest arms cache seized by the police during the past six months.â He said he would seek the help of police of other districts to arrest other members of the gang. He, however, said it was premature to suggest that any of the arrested smugglers belonged to a religious party. |