LAHORE: The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) on Saturday claimed to have arrested 12 suspected terrorists of the banned outfits during operations in different areas of the province.

According to the spokesman, the CTD Punjab conducted 54 intelligence-based operations in different districts of the province to effectively deal with any untoward incident of terrorism. Fifty-six suspects were interrogated and 12 alleged terrorists were arrested with weapons, explosives and other prohibited materials.

Those arrested are nine members of Tehreek-i -Taliban Pakistan, namely Adeel Arshad, Habibur Rehman, Mir Ahmed Saddam, Muzain, Haroon Tasawar, Ziaul Haq Rukti, Abdul Jabbar, Abdul Rehman and Imran Khan, two members of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan, namely Muhammad Mudassar Naseer and Abdul Farooq while a member of ISIS Muhammad Umar.

The spokesman said that 4,030 gram explosives, one jacket, one hand-grenade, eight detonators, 12 feet of safety fuse wire, 9.28 feet of prima card, four pistols, 20 bullets, four prohibited books, five magazines of banned organization, 60 banned pamphlets, and Rs28,960 cash were recovered from the possession of terrorists.

The spokesman said the terrorists had planned to sabotage across the province and wanted to target important installations and other religious places. The police have registered 10 cases against the alleged terrorists in Rawalpindi, Sargodha, DG Khan, Gujranwala, Multan and Bahawalpur and shifted them to an unknown location, he added.

Published in Dawn, May 28th, 2023