KARACHI: The Sindh Home Department has established a joint interrogation team (JIT) to probe two suspects for allegedly facilitating last month’s suicide attack on a Chinese convoy near Karachi Airport in October that claimed the lives of two foreigners and one Pakistani, it emerged yesterday.

On October 6, a massive explosion occurred on a road near Jinnah International Airport, killing a total of three people including two Chinese engineers and injuring at least 11 others. The attack was claimed by the banned outfit Baloch Liberation Army (BLA). Police registered a first information report (FIR) against leaders of the BLA and others three days after the incident.

A day after the attack, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif assured the Chinese of personally overseeing the investigation into the terror attack. A few days later, China said it would work with Pakistan to protect the safety and security of Chinese personnel and projects and institutions in Pakistan.

During an intelligence-based operation earlier this month, one of the masterminds of the suicide bombing, Muhammad Javed alias Sameer, and his accomplice Gul Nisa were arrested at CD Highway near Umar Goth Chowk, Karachi, while riding a bike.

According to a notification issued on November 26 by Home Department Additional Chief Secretary Muhammad Iqbal Memon, the JIT was formed at the request of the deputy inspector general (DIG) of the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD).

The JIT would probe the two suspects for their role in the attack. It would be led by the CTD DIG and comprise a senior official from the Inter-Services Intelligence, Federal Investigation Agency’s Counter-Terrorism Wing, Pakistan Rangers, Military Intelligence, Sindh Intelligence Bureau, Sindh police’s special branch and Karachi police, according to the notification. It added that the JIT was directed to “investigate/interrogate the matter” and submit a report with its findings within 15 days.

The FIR was lodged by Station House Officer Moosa Kaleem Khan of the Airport Police Station at the CTD. According to the FIR, the suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden Toyota Hilux into a convoy carrying Chinese nationals near the Civil Aviation Authority guard room at the airport’s outer signal.

Security agencies informed the police that the BLA, through its spokesperson Jeeand Baloch, claimed responsibility for the bombing. The police named BLA commander Bashir Ahmed alias Bashir Zeb and Abdul Rehman alias Rehman Gul, among others, as co-accused in the case.

The FIR noted that BLA leaders brainwashed the suicide bomber to carry out the attack, targeting Chinese nationals and security personnel. The separatist group, believed to be supported by a foreign intelligence agency, sought to undermine Pakistan-China relations, spread terrorism, destabilise Pakistan’s security and economy and achieve financial gains.

The attack was also intended to instil fear among the public and weaken the morale of security institutions. The police invoked sections 302, 353, 324, 186 and 427 of the Pakistan Penal Code, sections 3 and 4 of the Explosive Substances Act 1908, and sections 7, 11-F, and 21-I of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997.

Published in The Daily National Courier, November, 30 2024

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