ISLAMABAD: An alleged member of a banned organisation was arrested while distributing the organisation’s literature in a marketplace, police said on Friday.

The suspect, along with four other alleged accomplices who escaped, was distributing Hizbut Tahrir (HT) literature, they said.

A police team patrolling an area in G-7/2 spotted a group distributing pamphlets near a mosque after Zuhr prayers, police said. They were approached by the police and asked to show them the literature being passed around.

Four people distributing the pamphlets escaped in a case, while one man was taken into police custody and a bundle of pamphlets were seized from him.

The suspect and the recovered literature were taken to the Aabpara police station for legal action, they said. The suspect is being held and a case has been registered against him under Anti-Terrorism Act section 11-W.

Police said the pamphlet contained anti-government sentiment and hateful speech about the government and government departments, and was published by HT. During interrogation, they said, the suspect also disclosed the identity of two accomplices who live in the capital.

HT is an international political organisation that was proscribed in Pakistan in 2004. They said three members of the group were also arrested in the capital last year, one of whom was arrested for distributing anti-government and anti-military literature in F-11.

The other two were arrested during a police operation in response to information that they were distributing printed material in Aabpara, police said.

Published in Dawn, October 7th, 2017