KARACHI: On Tuesday, CTD officer Raja Umer Khattab claimed that the Counter-Terrorism Department’s (CTD) Intelligence Wing conducted a raid in Orangi Town, apprehended a suspect, Abid Husain, and retrieved five bags of “commercial explosives” from his possession.
He claimed that the detained suspect has a long history of buying and selling commercial explosives. According to a CTD press release, “the held suspect had made significant disclosures and further action was being taken in light of those disclosures.”
Following a recent decision made at the Intelligence Coordination Conference (ICC) meeting in Islamabad, the raid was carried out.
In the statement, Mr. Khattab added that senior CTD officials from Islamabad, Gilgit-Baltistan, and Azad Kashmir attended the 26th annual conference of the International Criminal Court (ICC) held in Islamabad on January 24. The participants made the decision to keep an eye on the buying and selling of commercial explosives in order to stop potential terrorists from misusing them. IGP Sindh then assigned the duty to the CTD.
As a result, the CTD carried out searches around the city, gathering information on all license holders engaged in the sale or purchase of commercial explosives. Additionally, legal action was taken against unlicensed individuals involved in these illicit activities.
According to the statement, the deputy commissioner had a tendency to grant licenses for the sale of commercial explosives to businesses under strict guidelines about safety and explosive quantity. However, some individuals kept large stocks of commercial explosives and failed to keep track of any sales or purchases.
It was discovered during the action that a significant amount of flammable and explosive materials were also being transported to Karachi from other provinces, and that no safety precautions were being taken during the transfer of these materials. It was also revealed that specific transporters were involved in this business.
