KARACHI: As investigation into Friday’s attack on the Chinese consulate in the city got under way, police authorities on Saturday believed the three attackers were in constant touch with leaders of the banned Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) including its exiled leader Hyrbiar Marri and ‘commander’ Aslam Acchu alias Miraq Baloch.

While the BLA claimed responsibility for the assault, released photos of the militants identifying them as Azal Khan, Razik and Rais, the counterterrorism department (CTD) of Sindh police booked the two commanders and their 11 accomplices namely Bashir Zaib, Noor Bux, Sheikhu, Sharif, Hamal, Munshi, Karim Marri, Rehman Gul, Nisar, Gaindi and Agha Sherdil.

The FIR (153/2018) registered by the CTD police on behalf of state through the Boat Basin police SHO on murder and terrorism charges stated: “The BLA is supported by Indian agency, RAW, and the terrorists’ motive for the foiled attack on the Chinese consulate was to spoil Pakistan-China ties.”

According to FIR, RAW-assisted assault was aimed at spoiling Pak-China ties

The police investigators believed Hyr­biar was the mastermind of the attack which was carried out with the help of the Indian spy agency in an attempt to hit the strong relations between Pakistan and China.

They had seized three Kalashnikovs, four slabs of C-4 explosive material, seven hand grenades, a BLA flag, first aid material and grams from the crime scene. On Saturday, the CTD investigators revisited the crime scene.

Senior CTD officer Raja Umar Khattab, who is supervising the probe, told Dawn that the purpose of their revisit was to assess in detail as to how the attackers reached the consulate gate, who put up resistance and why several vehicles were burnt or damaged.

Mr Khattab said as all security personnel posted at the foreign mission became alert soon after the killing of ASI Ashraf Dawood and police constable Mohammad Amir at the checkpoint, another police constable, Akram, took position and opened fire on the militants, leaving one of them critically wounded. The attacker, who suffered a gunshot wound in the abdomen, took shelter behind the wall of a nearby bungalow where he later died due to excessive bleeding, the officer said. He added that his two accomplices resorted to heavy fire. They threw hand grenades and managed to enter the reception room of the visa facility where at least nine people, including a woman, were present. They immediately shut the door and went inside while the guard locked the main armoured gate, according to the police investigators.

The CTD officer said that the two attackers threw several hand grenades and conducted heavy firing in which two police mobiles, one armoured personnel carrier and six other cars parked outside the consulate were damaged while three cars caught fire. The firing resulted in the killing of two visa applicants Niaz Ahmed and his son Zahir Shah at the reception room, he added.

According to him, when the attackers failed to break open the armoured gate despite hurling hand grenades, they attached a cable and improvised explosive device containing C4 material with the gate to detonate it. They stayed at safe distance from the gate but were gunned down by law enforcers, he said.

Mr Khattab said that ‘some arrests’ had also been made in the case but it would not be appropriate at this moment to share it with the media. He said so far, one killed militant, Razik had been identified through finger prints while two other sets of fingerprints did not match with record of the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) indicating the possibility that they had not applied for their identity cards.

Published in Dawn, November 25th, 2018