The Punjab Police Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) in an operation in Sargodha arrested seven alleged terrorists of the banned outfit Sipah-e-Muhammad Pakistan, for planning sectarian riots.
According to a statement issued by the CTD spokesperson, on January 6, the CTD team and intelligence officials in Sargodha received a verified report that two terrorists were going to carry out sectarian killings.
The CTD team tried to stop the alleged terrorists at Luqman Canal on Kot Momin Road in Sargodha, at which the terrorists opened fire on the team.
However, the Anti-Terrorism Department team, acting cautiously, arrested the two terrorists, Musharraf Abbas alias Bawaji and Amirbaz alias Shahid, CTD also recovered a pistol, rifle, explosives and a remote control device from their possession.
The alleged terrorists uncovered a seven-member network during the interrogation and revealed a plot to carry out sectarian violence.
After that, the CTD team, acting on the information of the alleged terrorists, arrested two members of the banned outfit from Khushab and three alleged terrorists from Sahiwal Tehsil of Sargodha.
The alleged terrorists further revealed during the interrogation that their mastermind, Mahmood Iqbal alias Maisam, was operating a network from a neighbouring country and that the country’s intelligence agency network was involved in buying weapons and ammunition for terrorist activities.
The statement said that the main purpose of the network was to incite sectarianism and create chaos in the country.
