The Punjab Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) on Monday said it had arrested 12 suspected terrorists allegedly working for the Indian intelligence agency Research Analysis Wing (RAW) in intelligence-based operations conducted in Lahore, Faisalabad, and Bahawalpur.

According to a statement issued by the CTD spokesperson, the arrests were made in collaboration with sensitive agencies. He said security personnel recovered photos, videos, weapons, and explosives from the suspects, preventing large-scale terrorism activities in the aforementioned cities.

He said the recovered material reportedly also included images and video recordings of sensitive locations, including a religious seminary.

He said the terrorists were planning to incite “fear and religious hatred” in the province and had plans to target “places of worship and other important sites”.

The CTD spokesperson said suspects identified as Sukhdeep Singh, Azmat, Faizan, Nabil, Abrar, Usman, and Sarfaraz were arrested in Lahore. Another suspect, Danish, was arrested in Faisalabad, while four others — identified as Rajab, Hashim, Saqib, and Arif — were arrested in Bahawalpur.

He said that arrests came after the CTD investigated a Facebook account allegedly being operated from India to coordinate terrorist activities.

All of these terrorists were being funded by the Indian agency RAW, the CTD spokesperson said.

“Seven improvised explosive devices, two detonators, 102 feet of safety fuse wire, explosives, weapons, mobile phones, and cash were recovered from the possession of the terrorists,” he added.

“Cases have been registered against the terrorists and further investigation is underway,” he said.

The CTD regularly carries out operations across Pakistan to prevent and investigate terrorism-related activities and gather intelligence.

In August, Sindh’s CTD had found the involvement of RAW in the target killing of a man in Badin district and arrested six suspects in the case, who were allegedly funded by RAW.

In June, four suspected Indian agents were arrested in a raid carried out in Karachi’s Quaidabad area.