LAHORE: The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) claimed on Wednesday to have arrested five suspected militants belonging to two banned outfits.

According to the spokesman, the Punjab CTD conducted 81 intelligence-based operations (IBOs) in different districts of the province to avert any incident of terrorism, in which 83 suspects were interrogated and five alleged militants arrested with weapons, explosives and other prohibited materials.

Those arrested are Shobin Khan, Bakht Sher, Tahir, Safder and Khizer, allegedly belonging to banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), he said.

The arrests were made during IBOs in Lahore, Bahawalpur and Multan, he said and added that 500gm explosives, two detonators, 10 safety fuse, one 30 bore pistol, five bullets, 43 pamphlets of banned organisations, 54 stickers, two flags, two mobile phones and Rs11,995 cash had been recovered from them.

He said the suspects planned to sabotage activities across the province and wanted to target important installations and religious places.

The police have registered four cases against the arrested suspects in Lahore, Multan and Bahawalpur and shifted them to an unknown location for investigation.

He said 341 combing operations were also conducted during this week with the help of local police and security agencies, checking 18,549 persons and arresting 44 suspects. As many as 36 FIRs were registered and nine recoveries were made, he added.

Published in Dawn, July 13th, 2023