Data Darbar blast case: Facilitator awarded life sentence twice, 14 years in prison

A Lahore anti-terrorism court has awarded Mohsin Khan, a facilitator of a suicide bombing outside the Data Darbar, to life sentence twice and 14 years in prison.

It may be recalled that on May 21 last year, the Punjab Police Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) and the Intelligence Bureau (IB) arrested the ‘facilitator’ of a suicide bombing outside the Data Darbar during a major operation.

Anti-terrorism court Judge also ordered the confiscation of all Mohsin Khan’s property.

Prosecutors Abdul Jabbar Dogar and Mian Tufail presented the record in the court against the accused Mohsin Khan.

The CTD police station had registered a case against the culprit.

It may be recalled that on May 8, 2019, a suicide blast outside the Data Darbar in Lahore killed 10 people, including 4 policemen and a security guard, while 30 others were injured.

Later, Inspector General (IG) Punjab Police Arif Nawaz Khan had said that about 7 kg of explosives had been used and police had been targeted.

Mohsin Khan told investigators that Tayyabullah alias Rocky, a resident of Mohmand District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, met Sadiqullah Mohmand, an Afghan national who arrived in Pakistan from Afghanistan via Torkham Bard on May 6 and then He was taken to Lahore, where a bomb blast on May 8 killed 12 people, including five members of the elite forces.

Prior to the blast, the facilitator (Mohsin), the handler and the suicide bomber were living in a house in the Bhati Gate area.

The official said the men had links to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan / Jamaat-ul-Ahrar branch of Hizb-ul-Ahrar, which also claimed responsibility for the attack.

Immediately after the blast, joint operation teams comprising CTD and Intelligence Bureau officers were formed to investigate.

The official said investigators had gathered evidence from the crash site on a scientific basis to investigate the identity of the bomber, the nature and quantity of the explosives.

Investigators said Mohsin Khan was living in a room rented by Noor Zaib in the Bhati Gate area.

The investigation also revealed that Tayyabullah had misled Mohsin Khan during his stay in Saudi Arabia a few years ago.

Mohsin said Tayyabullah had taken the suicide bomber to a nearby location on the morning of May 8.

During the arrest, a large number of explosives and 2 MP3 players were also recovered from Mohsin.