MUZAFFARABAD, Jan 16: Local authorities sealed the office of an obscure militant group here on Wednesday in line with President Gen Pervez Musharraf’s policy to curb religious extremism from the country.

Officials said the office of the Harkat Inqilab-i-Islami had been sealed by an intelligence agency’s personnel, who had been accompanied by the city police and Assistant Commissioner Arbad Abbasi.

According to witnesses, two people escaped from the office when the police raided it at 2pm.

The office is located in a rented house in the Chehla Bandi locality of Muzaffarabad.

The unknown group is said to be headed by Asmatullah Niazi, a resident of Mianwali, Punjab, and has offices in some cities of province.

The group is not a member of the Muttahida Jihad Council (MJC), an alliance of the Mujahideen groups fighting Indian rule in the troubled Himalayan region.

The MJC has 18 members of which the Lashkar-i-Taiba, the Jaish-i-Mohammad and the Al-Badar Mujahideen have observer status. Lashkar and Jaish were among the five groups banned by President Pervez Musharraf on Saturday.