3 More Arrested In Pakistan Over Blast Outside Hafiz Saeed's House

Pakistani security agencies have identified the main person behind the car bomb blast outside the house of the 2008 Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed and arrested three more persons in connection with the case, officials said on Saturday.

Three teams of the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) have been sent to Karachi, Peshawar and Sheikhupura for gleaning more information about those involved in the blast, an official said.

According to Pakistan's Punjab province's Law Minister Basharat Raja, so far eight suspects have been taken into custody in connection with Wednesday's blast that left three people dead and 21 others injured.

"Three more suspects have been arrested from Lahore, Sheikhupura and Peshawar in connection with the Lahore blast on the information of the main suspect -- Peter Paul David," an official of the CTD told PTI.

He said the three suspects had remained in contact with David whose car was used in the blast.

The investigators are trying to reach the ''mastermind'' of the blast, he said.

Another official said the mastermind of the blast has been identified and his name is Samiullah of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province.

"Currently Samiullah is living in Dubai and his brother had planted the explosives in the car," he said, adding that police are conducting raids to arrest Samiullah's brother.

David was arrested on Thursday at the Lahore airport, a day after the blast.

"Yesterday our team raided David's residence in Mahmoodabad (Karachi south) and seized his travel and other important documents," he said.

The Saeed has been serving a jail sentence at the high-security Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore for his conviction in terror financing cases.

The blast sparked rumours that Saeed was present in the house.

Saeed, a UN-designated terrorist whom the US has placed a USD 10 million bounty on, has been convicted for 36 years imprisonment in five terror financing cases. His punishment is running concurrently.