Interrogation of three notorious terrorists arrested earlier this week is underway and five senior Punjab Police officials have been asked to take part in the questioning along with intelligence officials. Rawalpindi Deputy Inspector General Syed Marwat Ali Shah is heading the five-member police team, which includes Rawalpindi Deputy Superintendent of Police Raja Shahid Mehmood. The latter is also a member of the team that traced the accused involved in the suicide attack on President Pervez Musharraf in December 2003.Sources told Daily Times on Friday that interrogation had revealed that several foreign terrorists were associated with the three notorious terrorists and had taken refuge in interior Punjab. Sources said the foreigners had managed to flee from the tribal areas during military operations. The terrorists also told police that Uzbek nationals including women had trained them (the three men) for suicide attacks, sources said, adding that the terrorists said the Uzbeks were taking refuge in southern Punjab.
Intelligence agencies had taken Asif Chotto, Shahid Satti and their accomplice to an unidentified location where interrogation was continuing, sources added. Law enforcement officials had also raided the outskirts of Attock city and arrested Samander Khan, the younger brother of Noor Gul. Noor Gul had played an important role in the recent bomb blasts in Karachi. Special police parties were also sent to southern and interior Punjab to arrest other members of banned outfits and foreigners who had taken the refuge in the two areas, sources added.
Talking more about Asif Chotto and Shahid Satti, sources said both men were part of the second-command of the defunct Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and that they had been working with Riaz Basra and Muhammad Ishaq, both founders of the group. Sources said both men including Sufi Muhammad, a religious leader in the tribal areas, had been instigating people to go to Afghanistan and take part in the fighting against US forces.
| Sufi Muhammad, recall, was sentenced to seven years in jug a year or two ago. Maybe they weren't very big years. Or maybe he's in a pretty comfortable jug. I suspect the former. |