By IRNA,
Islamabad : Police in Pakistan said on Tuesday that mastermind of the 2009 attack on Sri Lankan cricket team in the eastern city of Lahore has been arrested.
The Sri Lankan cricket team came under attack on March 3, 2009, when a bus carrying Sri Lankan cricketers, was fired upon by 12 gunmen, near the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, the capital of Punjab province.
Six members of the Sri Lanka national cricket team were injured while 6 Pakistani policemen and two civilians were also killed.
The Lankan team had visited Pakistan to express solidarity as no other country was ready to visit the country over security concerns.
Pakistani Taliban from Punjab province had claimed responsibility for the attack.
A suspected already arrested by police had told the media that the attack was aimed at kidnapping the Lankan players to demand release of detained militants.
But the bus driver had succeeded to speed away from the attack site when the bullets rained down on the bus safely into the stadium from where the Sri Lankan cricketers were safely airlifted.
Police chief in Lahore, Aslam Tareen, said that mastermind of the attack Amanullah alias Asadullah and three other suspects of the attack have been arrested in a raid.
Tareen said that three suspects belong to Punjab and one to the port city of Karachi, who are no being questioned about other suspects. The police also recovered arms from the possession of the suspects.
Giving details of what he called a well-organized attack, the police chief said that another organizer of the attack, Aqeel alias Usman, was also involved in attack on the army’s headquarters in Rawalpindi in October 2009.
Nine attackers and 11 soldiers were killed, while Usman was injured and is now facing military court trial.
Tareen said that Taliban leader, Usman, was assigned to hold talks with the government for the release of the arrested militants in case the attackers would have succeeded to kidnap the Sri Lankan cricketers.