MANSEHRA: The counter-terrorism department of Hazara division has arrested the suspected mastermind behind the killing of two women polio vaccinators and a policeman.

Lady health workers Sitara Gul and Kaneez Narjis and their police guard Mohammad Mushtaq were killed by gunmen on March 17 this year during the anti-polio campaign in Danna Sheikhabad area of Mansehra.

Head of the CTD in Hazara Sardar Khan told Dawn on Friday that militant of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan Mohammad Siraj, who masterminded and executed the March 17 killings with two associates, had been taken into custody.He, however, refused to give further details of the arrest and said they would be released to the media once the investigations were over.

Sources said Mohammad Siraj was produced before an anti-terrorism court, which remanded him into the police custody for seven days.

The sources said a CTD team raided a house in Shinklari area of Mansehra district and arrested Mohammad Siraj before shifting him to an unidentiñedlocationforinterrogation.

They insisted the militant had confessed to the killings and named his two accomplices, including Shahid Khan and Mohammad Umar.

The sources said the CTD team also took Mohammad Siraj to the carnage site as part of investigation and got important information about the killings.

They said the three suspected militants had reached Danna Sheikhabad from Mansehra by a passenger van and waited for their targets some time before killing them and fleeing.

The sources said the suspected killers had pretended they`re collecting charity for a mosque to stay safe in the area, which was not frequented by outsiders.PUBLIC LIAISON COUNCILS: Hazara division police deputy inspector general Hazara Akhtar Hayat Khan Gandapur on Thursday said the formation of public liaison councils in the province was a sincere effort on part of the government to convert the police from a force to a public service.

`We have adopted the PLC concept from western countries, where the police are a public service and not a force. I am optimistic that members of these councils will show a high sense of responsibility and ensure a check on crimes,` he told a meeting held here to inaugurate the PLC councils.

District police officer Mansehra Chaudhry Ihsan also spoke on the occasion.

The DIG said Mansehra police had busted 12 terrorist groups operating from here.

He said members of the PLC would help the police maintain peace.

The DIG said Mansehra was the biggest district of Hazara division but it had 1,200 policemen.

`When the PLC members will do their responsibilities effectively, the police could easily achieve their targets,` he said.