Mastermind of Johar Town blast is an Indian citizen associated with RAW: NSA Moeed Yusuf

ISLAMABAD – Evidence gathered during the investigation of the blast in Lahore’s Johar Town last month clearly points to “Indian-sponsored terrorism”, National Security Adviser Dr Moeed Yusuf said on Sunday.

Addressing a press conference alongside the Punjab police chief and Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry, he said the mastermind of the attack which killed three people and left 24 others injured “is an Indian citizen and he is associated with [Indian intelligence agency] RAW”.

“The IG said we have intelligence of foreign intelligence agency, so today without a doubt I want to say, [the circumstances] of this entire attack lead to Indian-sponsored terrorism,” the NSA said.

Yusuf said the government had the fakes names, real identities and location of the suspects because of efficient coordination between different agencies.

On June 23, a powerful blast near the residence of Jamaatud Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed in Johar Town had killed three people and injured 24 others, including a police constable.

Six-year-old Abdul Haq, his father Abdul Malik, 50, and a young passerby died in the explosion that left a four-foot-deep and eight-foot-wide crater on the road and damaged several houses and shops nearby.

Quoting intelligence and surveillance staff, a report submitted to the chief minister had confirmed that the blast was carried out through remote control.

NSA Yusuf said Pakistan had been repeatedly saying that India was involved in terrorism against Pakistan.

Speaking about whether there was involvement of the Indian state in the attack, he said the day the blast took place, there were thousands of coordinated cyber attacks on the country’s information infrastructure.

“The cyber attacks were carried out so that our investigation could not be successful and it would face obstacles and time could be gained for the network to disperse,” he said, adding that the country’s institutions were “successful” because they had been strengthened to work on cybersecurity.

“We have no doubt that the Johar Town and cyber attacks are linked. And the number in which [the cyber attacks] were done, there is no doubt that there was state involvement of our neighbour,” he added, referring to India.

He recalled that Pakistan had presented a dossier last year regarding Indian state-sponsored terrorism in Pakistan. “This event is another aspect of that process where our enemy continues to do this,” he said.

According to Yusuf, the “direct origin” of the money through which the attack was financed was from India. “Money was sent through third countries; now time has come to pay attention to real criminals,” he said.

He revealed that one of the primary suspects who executed the attack, Eid Gul, was originally from Afghanistan and had lived in Pakistan.

“This is that thing which we repeatedly say that Afghan refugees are our brothers and sisters but the time has come for their dignified return,” he said, adding that while a big Afghan refugee population was peaceful, the actions of a few hiding among them brought disrepute to all refugees.

“Pakistan will bring this international network in public view and India’s real face will be exposed, as we have done before.”

Referring to India, the NSA said the country could not tell the world that it wanted to “move forward”, while in reality it made plans “to martyr Pakistan’s citizens”.

“I want to make sure our message is heard clearly that [in] this particular incident, we have concrete evidence and intelligence that point to direct Indian sponsorship of these terrorists,” he emphasised.

“We have identified the main mastermind and the handlers of this terrorist attack and we have no doubt in informing you that the main mastermind belongs to RAW, lives in India and is an Indian citizen.”

Besides the cyber attacks, Yusuf said, “there has been a whole drama about some mysterious drones flying in Indian-occupied Kashmir. The logic of that is very clear, and we can again say with confidence that it was a deflection tactic.”