Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said on Tuesday that there was “clear evidence” of India carrying out terrorist activities in Pakistan, adding that the government has decided to present the matter before the international community.
“We have decided to bring our stance before the world and unveil India’s face of terrorism,” he said in a press conference in Islamabad, flanked by Punjab Counter Terrorism Department Inspector General Imran Mehmood.
“For decades, Pakistan has been burning in the fire of terrorism. Our mosques, imambargahs, important buildings, and gatherings have been targeted.
“Today, the matter that we are putting before you […] we have evidence of India’s involvement in it,” Sanaullah said, referring to the Johar Town blast in Lahore last year.
In June 2021, a powerful blast near the residence of Jamaatud Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed in Johar Town had killed three people and injured 24 others, including a police constable.
Six-year-old Abdul Haq, his father Abdul Malik, 50, and a young passerby died in the explosion that left a four-foot-deep and eight-foot-wide crater on the road and damaged several houses and shops nearby.
Days after the incident, the then information minister Fawad Chaudhry and National Security Adviser Dr Moeed Yusuf told a press conference that the mastermind of the attack was “an Indian citizen and he is associated with [Indian intelligence agency] RAW”.
Earlier this year, Dawn reported that the Punjab CTD had claimed to have arrested the mastermind as well as the facilitator of the Johar Town bomb blast from Balochistan. They were identified as Samiul Haq and Uzair Akbar.
In the press conference today, IG Mehmood briefed on the blast, revealing that the authorities had reached the culprits.
“Basically, at 9am 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 organisation has accepted responsibility for the attack,” he said.
The official recalled that the police had traced the suspect within 16 hours of the incident. “And within 24 hours we arrested three terrorists.
“The first character was Peter Paul David who was caught through [the details] of his vehicle. Sajjad Hussain, who was arrested alongside, was David’s assistant,” he said.
Ziaullah, Mehmood continued, was arrested on Peter’s identification and “we found out that he was the main culprit behind the attack”.
“Eid Gul and his wife were arrested after 5-6 days. Gul was the person who David gave the car to and he outfitted it with ammunition and bombs,” he said, adding that the video of the blast showed Gul coming out of the vehicle.
After Gul’s interrogation, the CTD was finally able to arrest Sami ul Haq, who Mehmood claimed was the main handler of the RAW-sponsored terror activities in Pakistan.
Clear evidence of India carrying out terrorist activities in Pakistan: Rana Sanaullah
