LeT role in Lahore terror attack being probed; Two arrested

Two men suspected to be linked to the terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team were arrested by security agencies in the city on Friday as preliminary investigations suggested that Lashkar-e-Taiba could have carried out the assault.

The two suspects were taken into custody after an exchange of fire with law enforcement personnel at the RA Bazar in Lahore's Cantonment area, TV channels reported. A grenade and arms were found in a bag being carried by them. Geo News channel reported that one of men was injured before being arrested.

The initial probe suggested that a group of "headstrong" LeT activists, who went underground and hid in the garrison city of Rawalpindi after the crackdown on the terrorist group and its front organisation Jamaat-ud-Dawah, had acted on its own and carried out the attack, the Dawn newspaper reported quoting sources.

Investigators believe the attackers received commando training in the camp of LeT's operations commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi as their modus operandi had similarities with that of the terrorists involved in the Mumbai attacks.

Eight persons were killed and over 20 others, including seven Sri Lankan players, injured when a dozen gunmen attacked the cricket team's convoy in Lahore on Tuesday. None of the attackers have been arrested so far. 

The investigations are progressing "well", claimed Salahuddin Niazi, who is leading the probe. "We will release our findings soon".

Authorities have also approached Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, currently under house arrest at his Johar Town residence in Lahore, to help them in tracking down the attackers.

"At this moment, I can only say that investigations into the Lahore attack are going in the right direction. We have also involved the National Database and Registration
Authority to determine the identity of the attackers," said Interior ministry chief Rehman Malik.

Malik had on Thursday ruled out the involvement of India or the Tamil Tigers in the Lahore incident. He said al-Qaeda could have been involved in the attack. However, Malik had also brushed aside speculation about the involvement of the LeT or Lakhvi in the Lahore attack.

The authorities continued to come under flak for the manner in which the security personnel both in the bus ferrying the players to the Gaddafi stadium and the route
responded after video footage showed some of the terrorists ambling across a bylane near Liberty Chowk with no traces of anyone chasing them.

"The whole of Pakistan is ashamed that such an incident occurred here," former president Pervez Musharraf told reporters before leaving for India where he will attend
the India Today conclave.