LAHORE: The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) claimed on Saturday to have arrested 54 suspected members of banned organisations, including five members of Indian intelligence agency RAW, in operations across Punjab.
According to the CTD spokesperson, the teams conducted 419 intelligence-based operations in separate districts of the province and interrogated 422 suspects. Out of them, 54 suspects belonged to banned organisations, including Daesh, Al Qaeda subcontinent, Lashkar-i-Jhangvi, Sipah-i-Sahaba, and Fitna-al-Khawarij.
The spokesperson said five of these militants belonged to RAW. Two of them identified as Waris Khan and Danish Ali were arrested from Lahore and three others – Roz Ali Khan, Wallayat Shah and Muhammad Aziz – from Okara.
While other suspects were arrested in IBOs conducted in Lahore, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Faisalabad, Jhelum, Sargodha, Mianwali, Bhakkar, Sahiwal, Mandi Bahauddin, Pakpattan, and Bahawalpur.
The CTD also claimed to have recovered 7,900 gram explosive material, 12 IEDs, 50 detonators, 98-foot safety fuse, two pistols, three rifles, huge quantity of bullets, 120 pamphlets, 72 banned books, 31 banned magazines, 112 stickers, two flags, a receipt book, eight mobile phones and Rs339,880 in cash.
The spokesperson said during the last eight weeks, local police and intelligence agencies jointly conducted 13,572 combing operations and inspected 494,642 persons. And 1,103 of them were arrested and 1,070 cases were registered under different charges.
ENCOUNTER: The Lodhran Crime Control Department (CCD) claimed on Saturday to have killed a proclaimed offender involved in kidnapping for ransom and contract killing in an alleged encounter.
CCD spokesperson said a team was present in Lodhran to arrest proclaimed offenders when the suspected robbers opened fire at them. The CCD team, wearing bullet proof jackets and helmets, remained safe and retaliated.
Resultantly, one of the suspects suffered gunshot wounds and fell on the ground while his accomplices fled the scene. The suspect was found dead by the team after some time, CCD claimed.
The deceased was identified as Naeem Klasin of Multan and was a proclaimed offender in 28 cases, including murder, robbery with murder, ransom and contract killing.
Published in Dawn, August 2nd, 2026
