RAWALPINDI, Feb 7: A group of men claiming to be members of an intelligence agency took into custody four armed activists of the banned Jamaatud Dawa detained by Rawalpindi police on Tuesday afternoon, Dawn has learnt.

The four men brandishing weapons were on a double-cabin vehicle which was intercepted by police at an army-police picket on Airport Road a few minutes before the convoy of an Iranian dignitary was to pass through the area.

According to sources, the suspects were questioned by police and senior police officers arrived at the place when the four were identified as members of the banned group.

An official said police had to hand over the men after some senior agency officers arrived there and sought their custody.

It was not clear if the JuD men were freed by the intelligence officers or taken away for interrogation.

Two of the suspects were identified as Azhar and Qadhafi. City police chief Azhar Hameed Khokhar told this correspondent that the weapons were licensed, but the licences were yet to be verified.

“We don’t know where they were going because they were taken away by another agency for further investigation,” he said.