Islamabad Inspector General of Police (IG) Dr Akbar Nisar Khan said on Wednesday that two men, belonging to the banned militant group Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), who had threatened to attack Parliament House had been arrested.
The development comes after a man made a video of Parliament House from Margalla Hills and shared it on social media, threatening terrorism. Sources had told Dawn on Tuesday that an arrest had been made.
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad alongside Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah today, the IG said videos had surfaced on social media showing TTP members claiming to have "reached parliament".
He said that intelligence and law enforcement agencies worked together to arrest the two culprits. The IG further said that police had obtained seven-day physical remand of the suspects.
The officer said police were working in tandem with the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and its cybercrime unit in an effort to deny the group space to plan and carry out terrorist attacks.
The Islamabad IG further said spreading terror appeared to be the suspects' motive as no information about carrying out the attack had been uncovered.
Pakistan has seen a rise in terrorist attacks across the country, believed to have been planned and directed by the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) leaders based in Afghanistan.
The TTP, which has ideological linkages with the Afghan Taliban, executed around more than 100 attacks last year, most of which happened after August when the group’s peace talks with the Pakistan government began to falter. The ceasefire was formally ended on Nov 28 by the TTP.
FIR registered
Meanwhile, a first information report of the incident has been registered at the Counter Terrorism Department police station on the complaint of Sub-inspector Tariq Rauf.
The FIR, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, was registered on January 3 (Wednesday) under Section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Pakistan Penal Code, Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, Sections 4 and 5 of the Explosive Substances Act as well as Sections 13, 20 and 65 of the Arms Ordinance.
In the complaint, the sub-inspector said that he and other officers were present in the vicinity of Tarnol police station when they received information that two individuals belonging to the TTP were on foot and could be caught if timely action was taken.
The FIR said that a raiding party reached Fatehjang Road at 2:30pm on Tuesday where it spotted two suspicious individuals on foot and arrested them.
The FIR said that explosive material was found in a bag recovered from one of the suspects and a further search from the two yielded 10 detonators, prima cord, two pistols and magazine clips.
"Upon further enquiry, the culprits claimed they were associated with the TTP which is proscribed by the interior ministry," the FIR said, adding that the two further revealed they were planning attacks in Islamabad on police, security agencies, political gatherings, prominent personalities and parliament.
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