• Official claims Saad Rizvi, his brother ‘traced to AJK’
• 95 bank accounts identified; parleys continue over fate of seminaries administered by the group

LAHORE: Authorities in Punjab claim to have traced the whereabouts of Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) chief Saad Rizvi and his brother Anas, saying the absconding leaders fled to Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK) after the Muridke crackdown.

A senior official told Dawn that law enforcers had shared this information with AJK authorities and sought their help to nab the TLP leaders. The development follows speculation — fuelled by TLP circles — that their party chief was in custody.

The official said following the crackdown, several teams comprising senior officers from Punjab police and other law enforcement agencies had been tasked with tracking down the TLP chief and his brother.

He said Saad Rizvi and his brother were first spotted walking away from the protest camp in Muridke, and then fleeing on a motorbike.

At that time, an emergency message was circulated among the LEAs that a motorcycle rider carrying the TLP chief and his brother had moved towards nearby streets.

The three suspects, however, managed to dodge law enforcement personnel, any many rumours started to surface on social media regarding possible injury to them.

The officer said the special teams eventually traced the last location of the TLP leaders somewhere in AJK and sought the regional government’s help for their arrest.

It may be recalled that the Punjab government has formally sought the proscription of TLP and has sent a summary in this regard to the federal government.

Meanwhile, the Federal Inves­tigation Agency also traced nearly 95 bank accounts operated by the TLP chief, Saad Rizvi, the official said.

Of them, 15 were interest-bearing accounts, and the FIA was trying to get more details from the relevant banks to check the transactions made by the TLP chief, he added.

TLP seminaries

As a part of a wider crackdown on the radical outfit, the Punjab government also identified 61 seminaries run by the TLP across the province. The issue of these seminaries also came up during a meeting of Sunni clerics with the provincial authorities, as both sides discussed proposals about the fate of these institutions.

During the meeting, two proposals came under discussion to decide the future of these seminaries. It was suggested in the meeting that these seminaries be given under the administrative control of the Punjab Auqaf Department — this suggestion, however, was opposed by the majority of the participants who feared such a move would aggravate the situation. They said this action may create controversies in the future, particularly due to the huge financial expenses.

The second proposal pertained to handing over these seminaries to the moderate Sunni clerics – a move deemed workable. However, the authorities said in such a case, the clerics would run the TLP seminaries without the element of ‘militancy’. But a final decision on the fate of these seminaries is yet to be taken.

Meanwhile, the Multan district administration sealed 10 TLP seminaries and handed several over to the Auqaf department in line with the Punjab government’s orders. These seminaries were located in Multan, Shujabad, and Basti Malook.

Published in Dawn, October 20th, 2025