Three suspects, claiming to be Taliban and involved in extortion, were arrested by the Crime Investigation Agency (CIA) of capital police on Friday. The CIA police received tip off that a group of outlaws, claiming to be affiliates of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), was carrying out extortion activities in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi as well as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), a police official said.
The official said the accused sent threatening letters on TTP letterhead and made phone calls from Waziristan to various individuals in twin cities and KP. The city police had launched a special operation on a tip off to trace and arrest the outlaws, he said. He said accused also dropped pamphlets with a cellphone number at people homes, asking for amount up to Rs 6.5 million.
He said latest techniques of geo-fencing and digital data analysis were employed and after hectic efforts police arrested Malik Aalam Khan Wazir, Mohammad Tahir and Mukammal.
The official said Aalam Khan was doing business as a contractor in Murree/Islamabad. The group had threatened various factory owners in KP, hotel owners in Murree and had chalked out elaborate plan to extort money from business community of Rawalpindi and Islamabad.
Police have recovered three pistols and a list of prospective victims from their possession. Further investigation was underway and police was hopeful of getting further important information from them, he said.