The senior superintendent of police CID's Anti-Extremist Cell (AEC), Chaudhary Aslam told reporters that Akhtar Mehsud was arrested a few days ago during a raid in Kunwari colony in Mangophir here.
"He has given us some very useful information regarding the planning by the TTP in Karachi," Aslam said.
Mehsud has been shifted to an undisclosed location for interrogation. He reportedly told officials that suicide bombers have been dispatched to wreak havoc during Muharram.
Three powerful blasts today rocked Pakistan, including two outside an Imambargah in Karachi, killing at least nine people even as security was tightened across the country to avert attacks on Shia gatherings in the month of Muharram.
The first blast in Karachi occurred when a suicide bomber's explosives detonated when his motorcycle collided with an auto-rickshaw a short distance from the main gate of the imambargah at Orangi Town in Karachi this evening.
Aslam alleged that Mehsud was instrumental in strengthening the TTP network in Karachi, and was also involved in generating funds for the militant organisation.
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He also reportedly had close links with TTP's chief for Manghopir and surrounding areas, Sher Zaman Mehsud.
The inspector general of police for Sindh, Fayyaz Leghari told a press conference in Hyderabad that the police had arrested 165 target killers in 2012.