MULTAN: The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) has asked the district authorities to freeze the properties of 66 people whose names are on the fourth schedule of the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997.

Sources told Dawn that the CTD had written a letter to the deputy commissioner in the first week of this month, recommending freezing of 16 properties owned by 15 people whose names are in the fourth schedule list. Earlier, it had sought similar action against 51 other suspects.

The suspects are Engineer Muhammad Ishfaq, Qari Muhammad Arif, Saifur Rehman, Syed Anwar Ali Shah, Arif Saeed, Maulana Khalil Ahmed Asad, Muhammad Sharif, Qari Tayyab, Abu Bakar Siddique, Muhammad Afzal, Abdul Hameed Ali, Maqsood Yameen, Sulman Ahmed, Muhammad Ashraf, Muhammad Rasheed Ahmed and Ziaullah.

One property of each person whose name is mentioned in the list has been identified with the exception of Muhammad Sharif whose two properties have been identified.

Sources said the deputy commissioner had been asked to freeze the properties under section 11-O of the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997 according to which (a) the money or other property owned or controlled, wholly or partly, directly or indirectly, by a proscribed organization or proscribed person shall be frozen or seized, as the case may be; (b) the money or other property derived or generated from any property referred in clause (a) shall be frozen or seized, as the case may be; (c) no person shall use, transfer, convert, dispose of or remove such money or other property with effect from proscription; and (d) within forty-eight hours of any freeze or seizure, the person carrying out the freeze or seizure shall submit a report containing details of the property and the persons affected by the freeze or seizure to such office of the Federal Government as may be notified in the official Gazette.

They said that a couple of days back the names of 51 other proscribed persons were also provided to the deputy commissioner with the request to identify the properties of all such people in the district to freeze these.

These people belong to banned organisations such as Jamaatud Dawa, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation, Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan, Ahl-e-Sunat Wal Jamaat, Daesh, Sipah-e-Muhammad Pakistan, Lashkar-e-Khurasaan, Tehreek Taliban Pakistan, TTP (Qari Imran Group), Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Jaish-e-Muhammad.

They said action was going to be taken in connection with the plan of action given by the Financial Action Task Force and blocking of bank accounts besides cancellation of the licences of weapons of these people.

Published in Dawn, December 21st, 2019