VEHARI, Aug 23: The father of an alleged Al Qaeda operative was arrested last week at his house at Chak 196-EB, about 15 kilometres from here, it is learnt on Monday.

Intelligence agencies, which arrested him on the night of Aug 14 and are now interrogating him, also claimed to have recovered some important documents from the house. Information gleaned by this correspondent revealed that some agencies, assisted by police, raided suspect Ghulam Mustafa's residence and arrested his father Abdul Rasheed, a retired baildar in the irrigation department.

The agencies claimed that they recovered important documents from his residence and a computer. They said Ghulam Mustafa, who was arrested about a month ago in Karachi, was involved in the plot to attack prominent official buildings in Islamabad and Rawalpindi.

When this correspondent visited the village, some of the people claimed that they knew nothing about the raid. However, according to some of them, Mustafa belonged to lower-middle class till recent past, but the family became rich within days. The family now owned six acres, they said.

Whenever the villagers and even his mother asked him how did he make money in a short time, he claimed he had got a showroom in Karachi. Many of Mustafa's friends disclosed that some Arab nationals used to visit his home. Once in July he was seen on a land cruiser along with an Arab national, they added.

A source said Mustafa belonged to the Harkatul Mujahideen in 1990 and later he visited Afghanistan to get training along with the Taliban. After the 9/11 incident, he went underground, they added.

They said intelligence agencies had also arrested Zulfiqar, another member of the family, but released him after six-hour investigation late Monday night. The other members of the family had gone into hiding and their residence was locked, they said. When contacted, the Vehari DPO said he had no idea about the raids at the village.