KARACHI, July 2: Police claimed on Friday that two physician brothers, who have been missing since June 17, were now in their custody. Amid reports that the doctors, Akmal Waheed and Arshad Waheed, had been picked up by intelligence agencies, a senior police officer said on condition of anonymity that the two were handed over to them by intelligence personnel in the early hours of Friday.

Apparently reacting to anxieties in the family and medical circles because no government agency was prepared to say a word on the whereabouts of the doctors over the past two weeks, the officer claimed that police announced the arrest as soon as the brothers were handed over to them.

According to the officer, Dr Akmal and Dr Arshad Waheed had close ties with Al Qaeda and provided refuge and other help to extremists who carried out terrorist attacks, including the ambush on the Karachi corps commander on June 10.

A spokesman for the Sindh police said the doctor brothers had been arrested near the Malir railway crossing at 3am. They were travelling in a car (Z-1440), he said, adding that they were carrying passports, cash and credit cards.

The spokesman said the doctors had disappeared following the arrest of Jundullah ringleader, Attaur Rehman, and his accomplice, Shahzad Bajwa. The two had reportedly told investigators and a judge that both the doctors were supporters of Jundullah.

"They were aware of all the terrorist attacks committed by Jundullah, like bomb blasts and attacks on the personnel of law-enforcement agencies," he said. Rehman and Bajwa told the investigators that in the attack on a Rangers mobile, Bajwa was wounded while throwing a grenade.

He said that his accomplice, Qasim, was wounded during the attack on the corps commander. "The accused in custody told investigators that Dr Akmal and Dr Arshad had treated the wounded," the police spokesman said.

He added that Jundullah activists rented out cars for the two doctors on several occasions. He said that through their personal assistant Kashif, at the Al-Mumtaz Hospital in Malir, the doctors had made arrangements for the trip of Bajwa and his accomplice to Wana.

He added that during their stay in Wana, Bajwa and the other man had met a terrorist, Eida Khan, and received training. Dr Akmal and Dr Arshad had called their family shortly before their disappearance and said they would come home after meeting some people near Marriott Hotel.

Later their car was found abandoned near the Natives Jetty Bridge in the limits of the Jackson police station. The family also received a ransom call by alleged kidnappers who demanded Rs10 million.