Two RAW agents held in Islamabad: police

ISLAMABAD: In an intelligence-based joint operation, the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) and Federal Capital Police have hunted down two agents of the Indian spy agency RAW and recovered explosive material with arms, ammunition and suspicious documents from their possession, the police said Saturday.

The daylight operation was conducted at a hideout near Green Belt Pahari (hill), located at the Islamabad Expressway, when the two suspects were exchanging directions or information passed by RAW, sources added.

The CTD has registered a first information report (FIR) under sections 7 ATA, 120/B PPC, 4/5 of ESA and 13-29-65 of AO and shifted the alleged RAW agents to an unknown place for investigation, the CTD said.

A joint team of CTD and police, upon receiving information from intelligence agencies, were on surveillance of the suspects. The two bike riding suspects appeared from Rawalpindi and stopped near Khanna Pahari when the CTD and police commandos arrested them and shifted them to CTD police station after recovering more than one kilogram (1,050 gram) of explosive material with detonators, 3 feet prima cord, two sophisticated guns (China made Norinco used in shooting at Benazir Bhutto on 27th of December, 2007) and ammunition, said the FIR.

Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) was called to collect explosive material and other relevant evidence, the sources said and added that the BDS has sent a sample of explosive and other material for chemical examination.

The people engaged in the investigation of the case, said that the RAW agents, identified as Mueez Ahmad, son of Rab Nawaz, and Mehran Younas, son of Mohammad Younas, both hailing from Gujar Khan, during the preliminary investigation confessed that they were paid agents of Indian spy agency and hit their targets mentioned by RAW, including political, social and religious personalities, adding that RAW funds them through unknown sources before mentioning the targets.

Meanwhile, the security agencies have arrested Afghan gangs involved in collecting heavy amounts of ransom in US dollars from well-heeled Pakistani businessmen for the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), sources said. The TTP agents, during the preliminary grilling, disclosed the presence of top TTP commanders in Afghanistan, saying that Abdur Razzaq, a key commander of the TTP, had asked them to collect names and basic information of the families of top traders of Pakistan. These traders were to be contacted from an Afghanistan number and handsome amount, after making threats of kidnapping or killing of their family members, was to be demanded.

The sources said the security agencies have detected their telephonic contacts with TTP commanders. The TTP agents have been shifted to an unknown place for investigation.