Police make three arrests in connection with Islamabad standoff

ISLAMABAD: The information gleaned from Islamabad standoff gunman Malik Sikander’s mobile phone has so far led to the arrests of three key suspects implying that there is lot more to it than what meets the eye, Geo News reported.

Until the latest arrests, it was believed that the "lone" as well as the "lunatic" Islamabad gunman was not a terrorist, but not anymore as Sikander's active ties to terrorist/extremist elements have come to fore.

Following one of the leads Rawalpindi police traveled to Hafizabad's suburb Ghaziabad, conducted a raid on a house, and held one, Abdullah.

Abdullah, allegedly one of Sikander's close aides, was reported to be an activist of an outlawed religious-extremist outfit.

Sikander was continuously in contact with him via phone while he held the federal capital virtually hostage last week, the sources said.

Police believe Sikander was taking instructions from Abdullah.

At the moment, Abdullah was under interrogation at an unknown location, the sources added.

Moreover, a police party also went to Azad Jammu & Kashmir and apprehended a head constable of police from a border town near Line of Control (LoC). The identity of the held policeman has not been disclosed as yet.

Furthermore, the third suspect was of one of Sikander’s friends as well as the person he procured assault rifles from.