Sindh’s Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) announced on Friday the arrest of the alleged mastermind of the terrorist attack that killed over 80 people at the shrine of Sufi saint Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sehwan earlier this year. Nadir Ali alias Murshid, who belongs to banned militant outfit Daesh, was coming to Karachi from Balochistan on a motorcycle when a team of anti-terrorism police signalled him to pull over near Abdullah Goth in Manghopir. He opened fire in a bid to speed away but was caught after the law enforcers gave a chase. The cops had already been deployed in the area on the outskirts of the city after the department received credible information that terrorists involved in the bombing of the shrine were coming from Balochistan, said Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Amir Farooqi of the CTD. After his arrest, Murshid disclosed to a joint interrogation team (JIT), consisting of members from the Sindh Rangers and intelligence agencies, that on February 16, 2017, he along with Ghulam Mustafa alias Doctor, Saifullah and suicide bomber Barar Brohi targeted the shrine, leaving 82 people dead and another 383 injured. The Daesh terrorist said the planning for the attack had started in the first week of February in Dera Murad Jamali, Balochistan, and along with him Ijaz Bagalzai, Tanveer, Farooq Bagalzai and Zulqarnain were involved in it. He said that as he knew Sehwan’s geography, he agreed to lead the terrorism activity and went to Sehwan with the suicide bomber on an intercity bus from Kashmore. Later, he said he rented a room and took Brohi to the shrine for recce and told him about the place where he had to blow himself up during dhamal. The two then returned to their room. Murshid told the investigators that at 10pm on February 15 he received a call from Ghulam Mustafa alias Doctor via a social media networking site and he was told to meet him at Jahaz Chowk, Sehwan, where Mustafa handed over to him a bag containing a suicide jacket. He said he told Mustafa that they should carry out the attack at about 6:30pm when there usually was a power outage at the shrine. At around 6pm the following day, he said, the bomber wore the suicide jacket and they reached the shrine, where they waited for the daily power outage. As soon as the electricity supply was suspended, he and Brohi entered the hall where dhamal was going on. He left Brohi behind and moved with Saifullah towards Jahaz Chowk, where after a few minute they heard an explosion. After the blast, Murshid said, they called Mustafa, who came by a car and they left for Rohjaan Mazari, Punjab, where Saifullah lived. DIG Farooqi said the suspect further disclosed that Mustafa was killed a few months ago in an operation conducted by the security forces in the Mastung district of Balochistan. He said the cops seized a pistol, 400 grams of explosive material, two hand grenades, a remote control, a circuit receiver and a receiver plate from the possession of the suspect.
