KARACHI, Jan 13: In a major citywide swoop, police took another one hundred activists of extremist religious groups into custody on Sunday and sealed their 25 offices at various places.

Police accelerated the pace of their campaign of crackdown against extremist elements following the announcement of a ban on them by President Pervez Musharraf in his Saturday’s address to the nation.

Sources in police said 65 extremists were rounded up in district West, nine in district Central, 19 in district East, and seven in district Malir. Besides, police also raided several places and sealed the identified offices of the Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan, Tehreek-i-Jafferia Pakistan, Lashkar-i-Taiba and Jaish-i-Mohammed.

The IG Sindh, Syed Kamal Shah, however, claimed the arrest of 37 extremists of religious groups in the city besides sealing of their 25 offices.

He said police picked up 246 activists of the SSP and the TJP on Friday-Saturday night in the province. He said another 87 activists were apprehended on Sunday. Giving the break-up of the arrests, he said 31 activists were of the SSP, 26 of the TJP, 10 of the Lashkar-i-Taiba and 20 of the Jaish- i-Mohammed.

About the offices sealed by police in Sindh, he said 24 offices of the SSP were sealed in the province, 12 of the TJP, 15 of the Lashkar-i-Taiba and 24 of the Jaish-i-Mohammed.

He denied the arrest of Allama Hasan Turabi of the TJP, saying Allama Turabi was not in the province. About the arrest of Moosa Abidi, he said Mr Abidi did not hold any office in the TJP, and police picked up office-bearers or activists only.