Pakistan police arrest 2 for spying on slain minister Khanzada

Islamabad, Aug 21: Pakistani counter-terrorism officials today claimed to have arrested two men from a banned terror outfit for spying on the slain Punjab home minister Shuja Khanzada before he was killed in a recent suicide attack.

The two suspects were arrested by the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD), which Khanzada helped to set up to combat militancy in Punjab province.

Khanzada, 71, a retired colonel, was killed along with 19 others on August 16 when two suicide bombers attacked him while he was meeting people at his political office in Attock district of Punjab province.

The suspects had been following Khanzada over the past couple of weeks before terrorists targeted him in a suicide attack, a police official said.

The bombing killed 19 people including Deputy Superintendent of Police Hazro Police Shaukat Ali Shah and Pakistan government had vowed to expedite the crackdown on militants and their facilitators.

The banned outfit Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) has reportedly claimed responsibility for the suicide attack on Khanzada, to avenge the killing of LeJ chief Malik Ishaq.

PTI