Sehwan Sharif blast: Mastermind traced
Shares
![Sehwan Sharif blast: Mastermind traced](https://timesofislamabad.com/digital_images/large/2017-02-20/sehwan-sharif-blast-mastermind-traced-1513927915-3047.jpg)
The name of suspect is Abdul Hafeez Pandrani and he is a resident of Abdul Khaliq Pandrani village of district Shikarpur.
During the investigation, it has been found that he is the leader of the Hafeez Brohi group affiliated with the banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) but now is reported to have joined Daesh.
Police and intelligence agencies suspect Pandrani to be the mastermind of the recent bombing. He is also alleged to be involved in several high-profile terrorist attacks in interior Sindh.
Pandrani, who belongs to the Brohi tribe, is named in the seventh edition of Counter Terrorism Department (CTD), Sindh, Red Book. The 35-year-old most-wanted terrorist, whose details are mentioned on page number 57 of the Red Book, is affiliated with banned LeJ.
He was also the key contact of LeJ Chief Asif Chotu, who was killed in an alleged encounter with CTD Punjab on January 18, this year. Chotu and Pandrani were responsible for carrying out deadly attacks in Shikarpur and other parts of interior Sindh.
Pandrani’s name also came up in the suicide bombing inside the Imam Bargah Karbala-e-Mualla of Lakkhi Dar, Shikarpur, on January 30, 2015, which killed 61.
CTD Sindh arrested a suspect, identified as Khalil Ahmed, for facilitating the attack. According to the interrogation report of Ahmed, Pandrani provided him with a cart for the reconnaissance of Karbala-e-Muallah’s surroundings.
Ahmed also confessed to the interrogators that the suicide bomber, Ilyas, stayed in Pandrani’s village. Upon Pandrani’s instruction, Ahmed dropped the suicide bomber and another facilitator, Rahim, near the Imam bargah. Later, Ilyas blew himself up killing 61 people who were offering Friday prayers.
Pandrani also played an integral role in the failed terrorist attack during Eid-ul-Azha prayers in Shikarpur, last year.