Karachi: The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) was engaged in a one-hour shootout with terrorists which resulted in the death of arrested militant commander Gul Aslam and injuries to two policemen, an official said on Sunday.
The raid recovered a massive quantity of explosives which would have been used to attack a public hospital, the police said.
Senior Superintendent of Police Chaudhry Aslam told the media that in the past few days the CID had arrested four suspected terrorists from Sultanabad of Mangopir area. One of them, Gul Aslam, was the commander of a militant wing of Waliur Rehman, the Taliban warlord in restive Waziristan.
Gul Aslam was the mastermind of the Abbas Town bombing in which 50 people were killed and the police grilled him to divulge his network in Karachi. During the overnight raid the CID team took Gul Aslam with them to pinpoint the hideout of his accomplices.
The terrorists opened fire on the raiding team resulting in an intense shootout. Two of the CID officials, junior inspector Khalid Saeed and constable Punnu Khan sustained bullet wounds, and Gul Aslam was also shot by his comrades. He died later in hospital.
One of the terrorists was arrested while the rest fled under cover of darkness, police said.
The fleeing terrorists left behind a vehicle containing 120 kilogrammes of explosives. The arrested terrorists revealed they plotted to carry out an attack with the vehicle on Abbasi Shaheed Hospital.
The explosives were fixed in two cooking pots and two water cooling drums and were attached to detonators which were disconnected by the bomb disposal squad.
Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad announced a Rs2 million (Dh75,000) reward for the CID team for their courage and the successful operation. The governor also advised the government to provide the best available treatment to the injuring police officers.
