ISLAMABAD, 12 January 2004 — A notorious terrorist, belonging to a militant religious group, and 10 others have been arrested in connection with the car bomb attack on President Pervez Musharraf on Dec. 25, officials here said.
They identified the principal suspect as Syed Ghulam Yasin alias Amjad Bukhari, and furnished details about his involvement in terrorist activities. He had been listed as a member of one of the banned militant groups and had been responsible for planning sabotage and terrorist activities in the country, besides being the head of the organization’s training wing.
He was taken prisoner during a raid in the lower Punjab district of Bahawalpur.
Yasin was described as the “central figure” in the suicide attack on Musharraf’s motorcade near the Chaklala air base, close to the garrison town of Rawalpindi.
Authorities have also taken into custody 10 others after raids on religious institutions in Lahore on Saturday.
“We have arrested 10 people from two adjacent religious schools in Lahore on Saturday afternoon,” a police official said requesting anonymity.
“The suspects are being questioned by the officials of investigating agencies about the suicide attack on President Musharraf,” he said. “The arrested persons are suspected of having connections with Al-Qaeda terror network and also links with those who masterminded the suicide attack on President Musharraf,” he said.
The two schools were identified as Darul Aloom Madinatul Muslimat for women and Madrasa Baqiat Shuhda for men in the Sabza Zar neighborhood of Lahore.
A report in the daily The News quoting unnamed sources yesterday said an official of the secret wing of the police department was also being questioned for his links with the suicide bombers.
The suspect official was identified as Mohammad Naeem belonging to the Special Branch of the Capital Police, the report said. Naeem was detained on Dec. 28. He received a suspicious call on his cell phone when Musharraf’s motorcade was on its way.
