RAWALINDI: The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) arrested a suspected member of a banned outfit in Attock on Wednesday, police sources said.

The sources said Mohammad Hanif alias Qari Asim Moavia, an active member of the outlawed Harkatul Mujahideen, was collecting wheat bags from villagers for the proscribed organisation when he was arrested.

During the interrogation, the suspect confessed to raising funds from the villagers for the banned organisation. The villagers told the CTD that the suspect had been threatening them to give him wheat bags.

During the interrogation, the CTD also recovered a large quantity of wheat the suspect had collected from the villagers and stored there.

The accused was produced before the Anti-Terrorism Court which remanded him in the police custody for nine days.

It may be noted that scores of people have been placed in the fourth schedule of the Anti-terrorism Act in different areas of Attock, Hassanabdal and Fatehjang.

In April, the National Counter-Terrorism Authority (NATCA) and the Punjab home department had expressed concerns over the illegal settlements of Afghan nationals in these areas and directed the police to remove them. But the police made no progress on the directives so far.

Published in Dawn, May 13th, 2016