BAJAUR, Jan 24: A leader and 15 activists of a banned religious party were arrested at Chengai village on Thursday.

Police arrested Maulana Fazal Haq and other activists during a raid on their houses.

The policemen raided the village to arrest the Naib Amir of the banned organization, Maulana Liaqat Muhammad, but he and his followers resisted their arrest and forced the raiding party to retreat.

After the incident, the administration started crackdown against these activists under the Frontier Crimes Regulations.

Maulana Liaqat has reportedly gone under ground and sources said that in the next few days a grand operation would be launched for his arrest.