PESHAWAR: The counter-terrorism department has arrested six facilitators of extortionists, including an Afghan national, claiming the use of 1,600 Afghan-origin SIM cards in extortion cases.

It also insisted that 90 per cent of extortionists used Afghan SIM cards to demand extortion, while the illegal forex trading method hundi-hawala was used to transfer extortion money, mostly from Karkhano market, a business hub on the border between Peshawar and Khyber districts.

Accompanied by deputy inspector general of the CTD’s Counter Terror-Financing Unit Imran Shahid, CTD senior superintendent of police Najmul Hasnain told reporters here on Monday that the number of extortion demands had “slightly” declined in Peshawar since the repatriation of undocumented Afghan nationals began last month.

He said the group involved in explosions was “almost” busted but its leader fled to Afghanistan.

The SSP added that the ringleader was back with the CTD being “on it”.

He said terrorists began fitting improvised explosive devices inside concrete blocks (road dividers) six months ago mostly to target convoys of law-enforcement agencies.

The CTD officials said the six “extortion facilitators” arrested by the department included an Afghan national affiliated with the banned militant outfit Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan.

They added that three of the accused were in jail, while the rest, including an Afghan national, were being interrogated by the police.

The officials said resident Mohammad Iqrar Khan filed a complaint with the CTD after receiving WhatsApp calls with an extortion demand.

They said the caller identified himself as Huzaifa Qari, a representative of the TTP, demanded the payment of Rs2 million and even shared a copy of a cheque book with the name Khan inscribed on it along with details of the account to be used for the transaction.

DIG Shahid said his department launched an investigation that led to the arrest of Shaukat Khan and Abdullah, who named proclaimed offender Aitbar Shah alias Mehdi and his brother, Akbar Shah alias Huzaifa, as part of the extortionist gang. He added that Aitbar Shah’s cousins Waheed Shah alias Syed Qari Mehmood, Qabil Shah and Ghaffar Ali alias Salman, who lived in Afghanistan, were also members of the gang.

Later, the CTD issued a statement declaring that during investigation, the arrested men revealed details of Ghaffar Shah, who was nominated in 16 cases registered under the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, and was wanted by the CTD Mardan.

It added that 30 members of that group were involved in militant and extortion cases, while 20 of them were identified and six arrested.

Published in Dawn, December 12th, 2023