LAHORE: Capital City Police Officer Muhammad Pervaiz Rathore has said that the terrorists involved in the Liberty and the Manawan attacks had clear links with India, as the police have gathered solid evidence. He was talking to journalists here on Friday after laying the foundation stone of a new police hospital at the Police Lines, Qila Gujjar Singh.
The CCPO refused to give the details about the breakthrough and solid proof, saying that the details would be provided by some senior official of the governments of the Punjab or the Centre. However, he confirmed that the police and intelligence agencies had grilled the arrested terrorists, reviewed the twin incidents and got the proof that the arrested terrorists had clear links with India and its intelligence agency, RAW.
Answering a question, the CCPO said no press conference was scheduled to be held in the near future in this regard. He said it was enough that a responsible government official had talked about the links of terrorists involved in the Liberty and the Manawan attacks with India.
Talking to this correspondent, a senior police officer of the Lahore police, requesting not to be named, also claimed that the police had been conducting joint investigations of the arrested terrorists from Manawan and other parts of the provincial metropolis along with intelligence agencies. During the initial investigation, the arrested terrorists had shown their links with India and, in this regard, some solid evidences like telephonic conversation and supply of sophisticated weapons had also been confirmed.
The officer endorsed the statement of the CCPO, saying that the terroristsí links with India were obvious, adding that Indian diplomatic missions in Afghanistan were used for this purpose. He said it had also been confirmed that the arrested terrorists were planted by India, no matter they belonged to Afghanistan or any other part of the world.
Another senior police officer related to investigations of high profile cases said that the police and sensitive agencies had also arrested terrorists involved in the attack on the Sri Lankan team. He said it was already confirmed that the RAW had planned the attack while the Punjab government and the additional CID IG had been warned in this regard in writing.
However, another senior police officer of the Lahore police, commenting on the statement of the CCPO, said there was progress in the investigations of the twin attacks in Lahore on 3/3 and 30/03 but there was no evidence that could be presented before the media or made public. He further contended that if evidences were made public before the interrogation was finalised, the terrorists at large could escape.
ISLAMABAD: The March 3 attack at the Liberty Chowk in Lahore, targeting the Sri Lankan cricket team, is believed to be a joint operation of the RAW and an influential international spy agency, marked with exceptional sophistication that is simply beyond the reach of local elements, sources reveal.
The Manawan terrorist attack, also in Lahore, however, was the handiwork of a local terrorist network led by Baitullah Mehsud. As the authorities made remarkable progress in the Sri Lankan attack, initially considered to be a blind case, investigations show that the amount of money supplied, the type of weapons used, the sophistication applied and the planning of this strike was such that it clearly had the signatures of some international spy agencies, including RAW.
While there are quite a few unique things observed by the investigators in this case, the authorities are simply surprised to detect that a fake Nadra ID card captured by the police and belonging to one of the attackers had all the security features available on the genuine Nadra cards.
According to a source, in order to prepare such a fine Nadra card, dies similar to those acquired by the Security Printing of Pakistan from Switzerland were used. An investigating officer said that the Switzerland-based competing brand of the firm, which had provided these special dies to Pakistan, were approached to make a perfect copy of Nadra cards that were in use of the terrorists, all of whom had escaped after the Liberty attack.
All the security features, hologram, ink and dies, everything was perfect. However, the only slip found was the signature of the former Nadra chairman Salim Moeen instead of the incumbent Ali Arshad Hakeem. The date of issue of this ID card coincided with the tenure of Hakeem but it had the name of Moeen. The ID card was found by the Lahore police from one of the car dealers from whom the attackers had purchased three rickshaws and two cars.
None of these vehicles was snatched. All were purchased from the market for which the same ID card was used. The police secured the sale-purchase details of all these vehicles and found that in one case, the fake ID card used was deposited with one of the dealers while in all other cases photocopies of the same card were submitted. All the three rickshaws and two vehicles were merely used to reach the Liberty area as the attackers abandoned them while fleeing from the site of the terrorist attack.
In yet another smart move, the attackers, 10 in number, and their two handlers, purchased new mobile sets and SIMs by using the photocopies of genuine ID cards belonging to different people, none of whom had any connection with this terrorist network. None of them knew of the purchase of mobile SIMs, acquired by using the copies of their cards.
Details acquired from the concerned cellular networks also reveal that all the calls made or received from these 12 SIMs were only to each other. None of these SIMs either made or received any call from any other outside number.
Amongst the weapons used by these attackers, the authorities got hold of four anti tank disposable rockets of the same make, which are only in the use of the Indian Army. Two of these rockets were fired by the attackers while the other two remained unused. It is relevant to mention here that the Crime Investigation Department (CID), Punjab, had precisely warned the provincial government on January 22, 2009 about the RAWís plan to target the Sri Lankan cricket team during its visit to Pakistan.
The CID, while referring to a source report, had clearly said that this terrorist attack would be carried out especially while the Sri Lankan team would be traveling ìbetween the hotel and stadium or at hotel during their stayî. What the whole world saw on March 3, precisely happened the same way.
While the foreign intelligence agencies have used their expertise, money and planning, the attackers are believed to be all locals including those belonging to banned organisations like Laskar-e-Jhangvi and some other proscribed outfits.
Regarding the Manawan attack, these sources said that it was the work of Baitullah Mehsud. One main player of the Manawan attack and six-seven key facilitators have been arrested and are presently being interrogated by the authorities.
The Lahore Police announced having information about those responsible for the assault in a press conference. “With the help of other intelligence agencies there has been considerable progress in this case. One thing is for sure that there is an Indian hand behind the attack,” Lahore Police Chief Pervez Rathore told reporters here. “I must tell you that there is credible evidence of Indian involvement in the attack,” he said. Police sources also confirmed the arrest of an Indian intelligence operative in Rawalpindi and recovered important documents from his possession including maps of targets in major cities. The information provided by the arrested Indian national has already led to at least five further arrests.
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‘Its a matter of time i suppose’ Comedian (Watchmen)
:P
Some senior Govt official is required to highlight the findings to make it a bigger NEWS.. Police official’s statement won’t have desirable impact..
Last time I checked Basitullah Mehsud was a pakistani/afghani.
Mr.Malik has gone on record to say that ‘no evidence of Indian hand is found’.
http://www.ptinews.com/pti%5Cptisite.nsf/0/041E21514C30FDF265257595005BF50F?OpenDocument
http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=171798
Hindustan times says:
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?sectionName=Cricket&id=ca72ea03-652f-4c1e-a77a-735c6115d739&Headline=%27Foreign+hand%27+behind+Lahore+attack%2c+says+Pak+to+Sri+Lanka
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The forensic report prepared by the Pakistani experts states that the four rocket-launchers and nine explosives seized from the crime scene are factory-made and used by Indian forces.
http://www.metransparent.com/spip.php?page=article&id_article=5904&lang=en
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