MANSEHRA, March 25: Relatives of a prayer leader, Maulvi Mohiyuddin, who has risen to prominence after issuing a decree against NGOs and their activities in Mansehra, have said that they have not seen him after a grenade attack on the offices of Save the Children in Battagram last month.

The relatives said that the cleric’s whereabouts were not known and they were worried about his safety.

One of his close aides, who was also picked up for interrogation during a crackdown launched after the issuance of decree, told Dawn on Saturday that the cleric might have been picked up by the secrete agencies or had gone underground for fear of arrest.

During the crackdown, Maulvi Mohiyuddin had gone into hiding in a forest of Sirry in the Tanawal area, the aide said on condition of anonymity.

The Maulvi, who heads a faction of little known Lashkar-i-Ababil, threatened to attack and kill NGO workers, especially women, who, he thought, were recruited mainly to spread obscenity in the area under the garb of relief work.

Maulvi Mohiyuddin in an interview to the New York Times three months back had issued a decree against the NGOs, alleging that their workers were converting people to Christianity. He had urged his close aides and followers to attack offices and vehicles of the NGOs.

Soon after the decree, the interior ministry started an investigation into the matter and law-enforcement agencies launched a crackdown against the Lashkar-i-Ababil and arrested dozens of its activists.

The crackdown was intensified after offices of the Red Crescent and Save the Children in Battagram came under grenade attacks last month.