DERA GHAZI KHAN, April 18: Police have arrested local facilitators of the man who allegedly masterminded suicide attacks on the shrine of Sakhi Sarwar early this month, Regional Police Officer Ahmad Mubarik Ahmad told a news conference here on Monday.

He said Behram, who was a resident of Mir Ali tehsil in Waziristan and alleged mastermind of the suicide bombings in DG Khan, had been sent on 10-day physical remand. Behram was arrested last week.

According to Ahmad, Behram told the investigators that Ayub, a resident of Bajaur and currently living in Mir Ali, and Zar Ali, a resident of Khor Chai in Bajaur, made a plan to kill those worshipping graves.

Behram told law enforcement agencies that Ayub dealt in used clothes at the Lunda Bazaar of Dera Ghazi Khan. He said Ayub told him that people were doing 'un-Islamic things' at the shrine of Sakhi Sarwar for fulfillment of their wishes. According to Behram, he came to Dera Ghazi Khan in December 2010 to execute his plan. He said it was decided in a meeting in Mir Ali that Qari Zafar would provide suicide bombers for attack on the shrine. He said suicide jackets and other relevant material were brought to Dera Ghazi Khan with the help of local facilitators.

According to the regional police chief, Behram stayed with Saleem Jan of Bajaur in Rajput Serai in Dera Ghazi Khan. Jan sells jackets in the city. He said he visited the shrine in December 2010 in the guise of a jacket seller, but there was no rush and a few people were performing 'un-Islamic rituals' there. After that, he said, he reported this to his accomplices in Mir Ali and it was decided that the shrine would be attacked during the Urs celebrations. Behram reached Dera Ghazi Khan again on March 13 and stayed here with Jan.

Behram told Ali during the Urs celebrations that it was the right time to strike. On this, Ayub sent suicide bombers Ismail (son of Noorullah), a resident of Kalawn locality in Bajaur, and Umer (son of Zubair), a resident of Lisra, Esa Khel, Mir Ali. They met Behram in Traffic Chowk of Dera Ghazi Khan on March 29 and he took them to Al-Madina Hotel, where the suicide bombers and Zar Ali stayed till April 3.

Local facilitators Ahmad Khalol, also known as Ayaz Punjabi, and Behram often visited the suicide bombers in the hotel. They planed to attack the shrine on March 31, but they delayed the attack because of tight security at the shrine.

The police official said local facilitator Bashir Ahmad (son of Mohammed Khan Shahani, a resident of Ronghin tribal area) was working as caretaker of the hotel. Asghar (son of Bashir Ahmad) provided 19 SIMs and cell phones to Khalol.

Sources said Khalol was trained in Afghanistan and he had been questioned in the past for a suicide attack on a Chehlum procession. According to the sources, Ahmad alias Sharif (son of Mewa Khalilani Khalol, a resident of Chah Mateywala, Mauza Chhabari Bala, Dera Ghazi Khan) had left the country, but he was arrested by Interpol in Dubai.

Police have seized the jeep (BD-5419), which was used by the suspected militants. Sources said an official of a law enforcement agency in tribal area helped the militants buy grenades.