PESHAWAR: Police on Thursday claimed to have arrested an accused in the bombing inside Shama Cinema here which left 14 people dead and 23 others injured on Feb 11.

Sharing details about the accused, Senior Superintendent of Police, Peshawar, Najeebur Rehman said that one Hassan alias Israr of Spin Qabar, Bara, had been taken into custody for his involvement in the twin blasts inside the cinema.

He said that the accused, hardly 16 years old, had also sustained injuries and was under treatment at the Lady Reading Hospital. He said that the accused was living at Riaz Gahri Bakhshi Pul in the suburbs of Peshawar on Charsadda Road.

`The accused is associated with the Darra group of Taliban,` the SSP said and added that case against him had been registered at Faqirabad police station under Section 302/324/427/7 of Pakistan Penal Code and Anti-Terrorism Act. He said that the accused was involved in both the attacks at the Shama and Picture House cinemas.

He said that the accused had been arrested after proper verification and information sharing by various intelligence agencies. The official hoped that this would lead them to the arrest of other accused in terrorism cases.

Similarly, police also claimed to have apprehended an alleged gang of three extortionists, including Shoaib Gul of Badizai, Misbahullah of Jamrud and Lugman of Bara, and recovered weapons from their possession.

A police spokesman said that the accused had been picked from Achini Bala af ter a complaint lodged by one Ajmal of Shah Gul Plaza.

They have been charged for kidnapping a cloth merchant, Taj Mohammad. The police claimed that the accused had admitted to their crime. They said that a case had been registered against the accused at Bala Mani police station. -Bureau Report