LAHORE: Chief of the banned Jaish-e-Mohamamd (JeM), Maulana Masood Azhar and his brother Mufti Abdul Rauf have been taken into protective custody in connection with the attack on Indias Pathankot airbase, Pakistan media reported on Wednesday.
According to sources, JeMs chief, his brother and close aides were taken into custody and shifted to an unknown location.
The sources further said that the concerned authorities were interrogating them about the armed attack on Pathankot airbase.
Earlier on Wednesday Pakistan said it had arrested several members of JeMs on suspicion of masterminding an attack on the Indian airbase.
India had claimed that JeM group was behind masterminding an attack earlier this month on the airbase, near the border.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister’s office said in a statement that the offices of the group were being traced and sealed and further investigations are underway, and that the government wants to send a team of special investigators to the Pathankot air base in India for further investigation.
News of the arrests comes 48 hours before a rare meeting between the foreign secretaries of two countries is scheduled to take place.
Pakistan has promised it would get to the bottom of who was behind the assault on the air base after India handed over evidence to Pakistan that it said implicated Jaish-e-Mohammad in the January 2 attack, in which seven military personnel were killed.
According to sources, the arrests include two from Thatta, Muzaffargarh; one from Daira Din Panah; one from Sinawan; three from Harunabad in Bahawalnagar; two from a madrassa in Pakpattan; one from the Multan city area and two tohers from a madrassa located in a remote area of Bahawalpur.
The three JeM offices sealed included those at Hiran Wala Kalan, Ugoki (a suburban town of Sialkot district) and a village named Kot Waris. The crackdown also saw raids being conducted at some madrassas. Two preachers have also been detained, with one of them believed to be a brother of JeM founder Masood Azhar.
Pakistan acting on the evidence provided by India comes two days ahead of the Foreign Secretary-level talks scheduled for January 15. Crucially, it comes at a time when there is a shadow of doubt on the talks being deferred by India.
…considerable progress has been made in the investigations being carried out against terrorist elements reportedly linked to the Pathankot incident, an official statement issued by the Pakistani government to the press noted.
India says it has strong evidence to suspect that the attack was carried out by the JeM.
India has also left the fate of the peace process on Pakistans ability to act against the perpetrators of the ghastly attack on the Indian Air Force base in Pathankot on the intervening night of January 1 and 2 that saw seven security personnel being killed and twenty others injured.
Based on the initial investigations in Pakistan, and the information provided, several individuals belonging to Jaish-e-Mohammad, have been apprehended, the statement added.
According to the release, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif Wednesday called a high-level meeting to review the prevailing security situation. The meeting was attended by Ministers of Interior and Finance, Chief Minister, Punjab, Advisor on Foreign Affairs, COAS, DG ISI, Corps Commander Lahore, Director General Intelligence Bureau and other senior civil, military and police officials, it said.
Pakistan has also indicated that it could send a team of investigators to Pathankot for further probe. In the spirit of the cooperative approach, it was also decided that in order to carry the process forward, additional information would be required, for which the Government of Pakistan is considering to send a Special Investigation Team to Pathankot, in consultation with the Government of India, the statement added.
On Tuesday, Home minister Rajnath Singh had said Pakistan has promised “effective action” vis-a-vis the suspected Pakistani links to the terror attack on the IAF base.
There was “no reason to distrust them so early”, the minister told the media, adding that we should all wait (for Pakistani action).”
Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) allegedly carried out a string of deadly attacks against Indian targets, including the attack on the Indian parliament in December 2001 that brought India and Pakistan to the brink of a full-scale war.
Soon after the Indian parliament attack, Masood Azhar was detained for a year by Pakistani authorities in connection but was never formally charged. The Lahore High Court ordered an end to the house arrest on 14 December 2002, much to the fury of India.
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