ISLAMABAD, Nov 28: The capital police have collected evidence from UAE against Mohammad Sikandar, the gunman in the Jinnah Avenue standoff of August 15, which may help investigators in the trial against the accused, police sources told Dawn on Thursday.

The standoff between the police and Sikandar occurred after the latter crossed several checkpoints armed with guns. He was accompanied by his wife, Kanwal, and two children, and had fired at the police too. The standoff continued for more than five hours and finally ended after the accused was shot and injured.

According to the sources, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Dr Mohammad Rizwan, during a six-day visit to United Arab Emirates, collected evidence against the accused and returned to Islamabad on Thursday.

Details of the visit and investigation are not available, but Inspector General of Police Sikandar Hayat confirmed that the SSP returned from Dubai on Thursday after collecting evidence against the accused. He added that the SSP would soon submit a report in this regard.

However, a police official, on condition of anonymity, told Dawn that the SSP had visited the intelligence chief of UAE and senior officers of the police there. The SSP also met with officials ofUAE immigration department and the prison, the source said. He added that SSP Hayat got Sikandar`s information including his bank accounts, source of earning and links. The SSP also met with the UAE prison staff and obtained details of Sikandar`s son who had been trained in militancy in 2002 and had assisted his father, the source added.

According to the source, Sikandar had gone to Dubai in 1996 after receiving militancy training for three months from people active in the `Kashmir Jihad`. In addition, during his stay in Dubai, Sikandar had generated funds for a proscribed outfit and had transported people to different countries on fake traveling documents.

He added that Sikandar was caught by Dubai police and put in jail for three months in this regard, but was later released due to lack of evidence. He was again arrested in 2001 and deported to Pakistan in 2002 for his involvement in illegal activities, the source added.

Sikandar again went to Dubai after changing his name, and worked as an agent of an intelligence agency.

However, the agency stopped paying him after it found out that the accused was a double agent.

Commission records gunman`s statement Meanwhile, a judicial commission inves-tigating the standoff recorded Sikandar`s statement regarding the incident.

The three-member commission was constituted on September 30 by the government after a petitioner, Tariq Asad, requested the Supreme Court to appoint a commission.

Headed by justice (retired) Shahid Saeed, the commission is comprised of Additional Secretary Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) Javed Akhtar and Director (Investigations) Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Dr Usman Anwar.

According to sources, Sikandar told the commission that he wanted the imposition of Shariah (Islamic law) in the country, and had claimed that he had made a sincere attempt to impose it. He also admitted of carrying illegal weapons.

The commission has been tasked to investigate the standoff and suggest precautionary measures to avoid such a situation in future.

The commission has so far recorded the statement of Zamarud Khan, the politician who attempted to disarm the gunman and Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) chairman Rashid Ahmed.In addition, the statements of inspector general of Islamabad police, senior police officials, officials of the district administration and some journalists who were covering the incident have also been recorded.