By Islamuddin Sajid

ISLAMABAD (AA) - Pakistani police on Tuesday said they arrested a policeman who was behind the deadliest attack on police in northwestern Peshawar city in 2023, in which over 100 people were killed and 250 others injured.

Speaking to reporters in Peshawar, provincial police chief Akhtar Hayat Gandapur said police constable Muhammad Wali had joined Jamatul Ahrar (JuA), a terrorist group of Tehreek e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), some three years ago.

Muhammad Wali was the main handler, who brought a suicide bomber to Peshawar Police Lines, Gandapur said.

At least 101 people, mostly policemen, were killed and around 250 injured when the suicide bomber blew himself up inside a mosque in Peshawar Police Lines in January 2023. The mosque was located within a high-security zone of the city.

Wali, a resident of Peshawar City, joined the police force in December 2019.

In 2021, JuA commander Junaid contacted him through social media and became his friend. Later, Junaid invited Wali to Afghanistan and he went there the same year, according to Gandapur.

During his stay in Afghanistan, he also met with JuA leaders and they sent him back to Peshawar to continue his job in the police force.

"Wali picked the suicide bomber from Khyber district, and later brought him in police uniform to the police line and left him there alone to carry out the attack," the police chief said.

Police arrested Wali after another suspected militant revealed during an interrogation that Wali is the main handler of militants carrying out attacks in Peshawar and other cities.

According to Gandapur, JuA paid Rs 200,000 ($718) to Wali for the job.

"This man received only 200,000 rupees to kill his 100 colleagues and injure 250 others while he was also getting Rs 40,000 ($143) to Rs 50,000 ($179) per month from JuA," he told reporters.

Wali, in a video statement aired by Gandapur during his news conference, admitted that he had carried out dozens of attacks, including the Peshawar Police Lines blast.