A proclaimed offender, accused of killing the leader of a banned Pakistani Islamist group in 2003, was today arrested by the authorities from the Islamabad airport while he was trying to flee to the UK.
Syed Muhammad Sibtain Kazmi, who earlier had a head money of Rs 1,000,000 for killing former Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) chief Maulana Azam Tariq's murder, was identified and arrested by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).
He was trying to flee to the UK via Doha. The officers said that his name was not included in the Exit Control List (ECL), The Express Tribune reported.
Kazmit was a resident of Lahore and listed in the first Red Book of the Counter Terrorism Department issued in 2009 and also contained names of most wanted criminals and terrorists.
Tariq was gunned down in Islamabad in October 2003 along with three of his guards and a driver in 2003 while he was returning from his constituency, Jhang, to attend a National Assembly session.
He earlier headed Anjuman Sipah-e-Sahaba, which later changed its name to Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan and then to Millat-i-Islamia. It is now known as Ahl-e-Sunnat Wal Jama'at (ASWJ).
SSP was banned for being a terrorist outfit in 2002.
Tariq was elected to the National Assembly during 2002 elections as an independent candidate.
The organisation, which has a sectarian, anti-Shia ideology, is also believed to be linked with the Lashkar-e- Jhangvi (LeJ) terror group.
Following his killing, his supporters went on a rampage in the city and burned down a cinema hall in Islamabad, killing two people inside.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
