Following pressure from the global community to rein in terror outfits, Pakistan on Tuesday detained Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar's son and brother and put Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) and Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation on the list of banned terror outfits. The federal government on Tuesday took as many as 44 members affiliated with proscribed organisations, including Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar's brother, Mufti Abdul Rauf, and son, Hammad Azhar, into "preventive detention" under the National Action Plan.
According to a statement from the ministry of Interior, the decision was made at a high-level meeting on Monday. "It was decided to speed up action against all proscribed organisations. In compliance, 44 under-observation members of proscribed organisations, including Mufti Abdul Raoof and Hamad Azhar, have been taken in preventive detention for investigation," it said.
It added: "These actions will continue, as per the decisions taken in National Security Committee [meeting] while reviewing National Action Plan."
Meanwhile, Indian security agencies were unmoved by reports of arrest of 44 members of the Jaish-e-Mohammad in Pakistan, with officials saying the terrorists were not arrested under the anti-terrorism laws but have only been taken in "preventive detention for investigation". Similar actions by the neighbouring country against leaders of the proscribed outfits in the past turned out to be farce as those who were taken into custody were let off soon on different pretexts.
