KARACHl: The Counter-Terrorism Department on Tuesday claimed to have arrested a suspected militant, said to be associated with the banned Lashkar-iJhangvi (LJ), after he was released from prison recently.

The CTD accused him of orchestrating the killing of famous qawwal Amjad Sabri in 2016 as well as running his `network` from prison.

`The officer in charge of the CTD`s LJ cell carried out a raid in Patel Para and arrested Hafiz Qasim Rasheed alias Bilal, who is a dangerous terrorist affiliated with banned LJ, a CTD spokesperson said, adding that a grenade and an unlicensed pistol were recovered from his possession.

He said besides running his network from prison, the suspect had `orchestrated the killings of Amjad Sabri, four Rangers and two army personnel and four Shias from prison with help of his accomplices Asim alias Capri and Ishaq alias Bobby`.

The suspect was earlier arrested and charged with multiple killings, including the murder of former Muttahida Qaumi Movement lawmaker Raza Haider. However, he was acquitted in various cases and subsequently released from prison.

The CTD claimed that he, along with his other accomplice, was planning terrorist attacks.

A CTD press release said that during grilling, the suspect had `confessed` to have killed jail officials Pir Masood Ahmed, Abdul Razzaq Abbasi and others.

However, senior CTD official Raja Umer Khattab claimed that the held suspect was not involved in the Amjad Sabri and army personnel murder cases.

Mr Khattab, who was instrumental behind the arrest of Asim Capri and Ishaq Bobby, told Dawn that the CTD had made a `mistake` by linking Hafiz Qasim with the killing of Amjad Sabri.

However, he agreed that Hafiz Qasim was a high-profile militant. He had worked as LJ`s naib emir in Karachi, he added.