ISLAMABAD: The chief of Tehrik-i-Nifaz-i-Shariat-i-Muhammadi Maulana Sufi Mohammad has not been arrested, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said on Friday.

Reports quoting sources on Thursday said Sufi Mohammad, along with three other TNSM officials, had been arrested from the Amandara region of Lower Dir.

The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Thursday confirmed that TNSM’s Central Shura member Maulana Said Wahab, spokesman Ameer Izzat and Deputy Ameer Maulana Alam, had been arrested during the raid, DawnNews reported.

Sources say security forces picked up the top TNSM leaders from their headquarters in Bilal Masjid on the Mingora-Batkhela Road in the Amandara village of Malakand on Thursday.

There were other reports that said Sufi Mohammed, along with his sons Rizwanullah and Ziaullah, had been arrested, but sources could not confirm the reports.

A key TNSM leader, however, confirmed on Thursday that Sufi Mohammad was not present in Amandara for the last few days and had perhaps gone into hiding, DawnNews reported.