KARACHI, June 17: A most-wanted activist of a banned religious organization was arrested late on Monday night by the Crime Investigation Department of the police.

Akram Lahori was believed to be second-in-command after Riaz Basra, who was killed in Punjab in an alleged police encounter. Lahori was picked up in Orangi Town on a lead given by Shabbir Ahmed, arrested by the police in Gulzar-i-Hijri in the evening, sources in the police said.

They said the police recovered two Klashnikovs and two TT pistols from the possession of Akram Lahori, carrying head money of Rs5 million announced by the Sindh government and another Rs5 million announced by the Punjab government. The police also picked up three of his accomplices. Lodged at an unknown place, all of the suspects were being thoroughly interrogated. Their arrest was officially being kept under wraps, the sources said.

Party workers, however, expressed fear that Akram Lahori could also be killed in a fake police encounter. They added that the arrest of Riaz Basra had not been announced by the police either.

The provincial police chief, however, expressed his ignorance about the arrest of Akram Lahori, saying: “No such information has been brought to my knowledge.”