2 suspects arrested over blast outside Hafiz Saeed's house in Pak

Lahore: Pakistani security agencies on Thursday arrested two suspects involved in the car bomb blast outside the house of the 2008 Mumbai terror attack mastermind and chief of the banned Jamat-ud-Dawa (JuD) Hafiz Saeed, an official said.

The Crime Investigation Department (CTD) has arrested two suspects, one of them a Christian, who had a connection with the sale and purchase of the car used for the blast, a CTD official said.

The official did not disclose the identity of the suspects. However, the Associated Press named one of the arrested as David Peter. Intelligence agencies have arrested a man from the Lahore airport on the suspicion of his involvement in the blast, Geo News reported.

Quoting police sources, the report said the man was asked to get off a Karachi-bound flight a few minutes before departure. He was taken to an undisclosed location for further investigation, the report said.

"We are getting a lead from the arrested persons to the main culprits," the CTD official said, adding that different teams have been formed to probe the matter.

The arrests came after the security agencies conducted raids across different cities of Punjab in connection with the blast. An FIR has been registered against unknown terrorists under terrorism and other charges, said police.

Three persons were killed and 21 others injured when the powerful car bomb exploded outside Saeed's residence at the Board of Revenue (BOR) Housing Society in Johar Town on Wednesday morning, resulting in serious injuries to some police officers guarding his house. The windows and walls of Saeed's house were damaged from the impact of the blast.

No group has claimed responsibility for the blast.

The CTD official said that it was a remote-controlled device installed in a car parked at the police picket near Saeed's house.