Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah on Tuesday said there is “clear evidence” of India carrying out terrorist activities in Pakistan, adding that the government will raise the issue with the international community.
“We have decided to bring our stance before the world and unveil India’s face of terrorism,” he told a press conference alongside Punjab Counter-Terrorism Department Additional Inspector General (AIG) Imran Mehmood. “For decades, Pakistan has been burning in the fire of terrorism. Our mosques, imambargahs, important buildings, and gatherings have been targeted,” he said as he presented evidence of India’s involvement in “all sorts of terror activities” in Pakistan, including a bombing in Lahore’s Johar Town area last year.
Summarizing the investigation into the bombing, AIG Mehmood said authorities had traced the culprits. “At 9 a.m. on June 23, 2021, a bomb blast was reported in Lahore’s Johar Town. Three citizens were martyred and 22 were wounded in the blast. To date, no terrorist organization has accepted responsibility for the attack,” he said, adding that a primary suspect had been traced within 16 hours of the incident. “And within 24 hours we arrested three terrorists,” he added.
“The first character was Peter Paul David who was caught through [information] of his vehicle. Sajjad Hussain, who was arrested alongside, was David’s assistant,” he said. The third, Ziaullah, was arrested through Peter, he said, and “we found out that he was the main culprit behind the attack.”
Subsequently, explained Mehmood, “Eid Gul and his wife were arrested after 5-6 days.” Gul, he said, had given David the car outfitted with ammunition and bombs. His interrogation, said the AIG, had led the CTD to Samiul Haq, who the police official alleged was the main handler of RAW [Indian intelligence agency]-sponsored terror activities in Pakistan. “Subsequently, we got Haq’s red warrants issued through Interpol. After that, purely on an intelligence and investigation basis, we were informed he was entering Pakistan and we arrested him on April 22 along with his brother-in-law,” he said, adding that the brother-in-law, Uzair Akbar, had assisted Haq in terror activities. “We also found out about Naveed Akhtar, who did the surveillance and selected the target,” he said, explaining the accused was a laborer imprisoned in the Middle East because he could not pay a fine. “A RAW agent approached him and told him that he would pay his fine, but then, Naveed would have to engage in terror activities against Pakistan,” Mehmood said.
According to the AIG, Naveed’s arrest had thwart several planned terror activities. “When we arrested Samiul Haq, Naveed was unaware of his arrest. Haq told us that he was about to meet Naveed on May 10. We were then able to apprehend Naveed as well,” he said, adding the probe had uncovered several more RAW agents.
“We also found out that close to a million dollars of terror financing was done through India to spread terrorism in Pakistan through different channels,” he alleged, adding that all the arrested persons had been sentenced to death by courts.
Stressing that the CTD now had “undeniable” evidence of India’s involvement in terrorism, he said the matter could be taken to the U.N. for further censure.
The interior minister confirmed this, saying the Foreign Office would raise the matter before the world. “India will be exposed because there is clear evidence that it is directly involved,” he said, claiming this would have “impact” and reveal the truth of India’s actions to the world. To a question, he said the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) also had support from RAW for terrorist activities in Pakistan. He also said the government planned to tighten scrutiny of deported Pakistanis in light of the findings of the case.