Chief Minister Balochistan Sarfraz Bugti said on Monday that security forces of Pakistan, while arresting Professor Dr Usman Qazi of the banned Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), foiled a major conspiracy against the province.
Addressing a press conference in Quetta along with other senior officials, the Chief Minister said that many suicide bombers, with the help of the arrested professor, had targeted innocent citizens on August 14, but security forces foiled this conspiracy and arrested the bombers.
He praised the security agencies, the Balochistan Counter-Terrorism Department, and the police for saving the province from a major disaster. He said that this was the first time that an official of the Majeed Brigade had been arrested. “He is a lecturer in Pakistan Studies. Imagine how many children he must have seduced. This person used to get terrorists treated at his home,” he added.
The Chief Minister also played a recorded statement of the arrested suspect, who stated that he had completed his Master’s degree from Quaid-e-Azam University and a PhD from the University of Peshawar, and was serving as a Grade-18 lecturer. He further revealed that his wife is also a government employee.
The suspect disclosed that during a visit to Quaid-e-Azam University in 2020, he met three individuals linked to an “organization.” Two of them were later killed, while the remaining two drew him into the extremist group and introduced him to Bashirzai. According to Usman Qazi, all these connections were established through the messaging app “Telegram.” After moving to Quetta, he claimed to have facilitated three operations on the group’s instructions.
