PESHAWAR/ISLAMABAD: An alleged facilitator of a commander of the militant Islamic State (IS) group in Afghanistan was arrested from Regi Lalma area here, police said Tuesday.

The suspect, Musa, has close links with Afghanistan-based Abdullah alias Cheeta, a commander of Daesh (the Arabic acronym for IS), said Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Saifullah as he produced the suspect before media.

The officer said the suspect was wanted by the local police for various crimes and was arrested during a search operation in Regi Lalma on Monday night.

The alleged criminal belonged to an inter-provincial criminal organisation, said the DSP, adding that further investigation about the suspect is underway.

Read: Ulema declare Daesh 'Khawarij'

The director general of the Intel­ligence Bureau, Aftab Sultan, informed the Senate Standing Committee on Interior earlier in February this year that IS was emerging as a threat in the country because several militant groups had a soft corner for it. He named Lashkar-i-Jhangvi and Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan as examples.

Though IS and Afghan Taliban were rivals, the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) coordinated with it, he added.

The interior ministry has been denying the presence of IS in Pakistan, saying that it was an Arab organisation. But Mr Sultan said the IB had busted a big IS network after several members reached Punjab following Karachi’s Safoora Goth carnage in May.

'Al Qaeda financier' arrested

Police on Monday announced the arrest of a suspected Al Qaeda financier who has been on a United Nations sanctions list since 2012.

Abdur Rehman Sindhi was detained during a raid by intelligence agencies in Karachi last week, said police officer Muqaddas Haider. He said a joint team of police and intelligence agents was questioning the suspect on what role he might have played in militant attacks in Pakistan in recent years.

Sindhi appeared before a court which allowed the police to interrogate him for two weeks, the police official said. He said he didn't have any evidence so far that the suspect was linked to the United States reporter Daniel Pearl's 2002 killing.