By: ChandrashekarBhat
By Chandrashekar Bhat
PAKISTAN has blamed India for a bomb blast in Lahore last month, claiming there is “concrete evidence” of its “sponsorship of the terror attack”.
National security adviser Moeed Yousaf said the mastermind of the blast “belongs” to the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) of India and “is based in India”.
Three people were killed and dozens injured after a car bomb exploded near the house of the banned Jamaat-ud Dawa’s chief Hafiz Saeed, the alleged conspirator of the 2008 Mumbai terror attack.
“We have identified the main mastermind and the handlers of this terrorist attack, and we have absolutely no doubt or reservation in informing you that the main mastermind belongs to RAW, the Indian intelligence agency, is an Indian national and is based in India,” Moeed told a press conference in Islamabad on Sunday (4).
The financing for the bomb blast originated in India and the money was routed to Pakistan through a “third country”, he claimed, without providing evidence.
He identified the main executor of the attack as “Eid Gul”, an Afghan refugee raised in Pakistan, who allegedly parked the explosives-laden car near Saeed’s house.
Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan also accused India of terror financing and urged the global community to act against the country’s “rogue behaviour”.
“Again, planning & financing of this heinous terror attack has links to Indian sponsorship of terrorism against Pak. The global community must mobilise int institutions against this rogue behaviour”, Khan tweeted.
Moeed said “thousands of attempts” of cyberattacks were made to disrupt the investigative infrastructure of Pakistan after the Lahore incident and the “sophistication” pointed to “state sponsorship and state linkage to the case”.
He described India’s “claim” of a drone attack in Jammu last week as a “drama” intended to divert the attention away from the Lahore attack.
India is yet to react to Pakistan’s allegation of its involvement in the Lahore incident.
