KARACHI: Pakistani security officials said on Monday they have arrested a former senior leader of a banned militant outfit who was allegedly involved in the 2002 murder of us journalist Daniel Pearl in Karachi.
Qari Abdul Hayee, popularly known as Asadullah and from Gulshan-e-Iqbal neighbourhood, was detained in a raid on his hideout on Sunday, said a spokesman for the rangers’ paramilitary force.
Asadullah was formerly chief of the sectarian group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (lej) in the southern province of Sindh and was "involved in several terror acts", said the official.
"He was also in the picture about us journalist Daniel Pearl's murder case," the spokesman said without elaborating.
The spokesman said that in 2003 the group led by Asadullah had sent parcel bombs to police officers, injuring many people.
In December 2002 the same group planned a suicide attack on a hotel near Karachi airport where US soldiers were staying, the spokesman said. But the bomb exploded while being prepared and killed an associate of Asadullah.
The ranger’s spokesman said the suspect would be handed over to police after further investigation.
Police blamed Pearl's kidnapping and beheading on a group of militants headed by Ahmed Saeed Sheikh, also known as Sheikh Omar.
The British-born extremist was arrested with three others and convicted in June 2002 of pearl's murder by an anti-terror court.
Seven co-accused were sentenced in absentia and two of them were later killed in encounters with police.
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