Pakistan detains 44 members of banned outfits, including Masood Azhar's brother

Amid international pressure to act after a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) suicide bomber killed 40 CRPF jawans in Pulwama, Pakistan has detained at least 44 members of banned outfits, including a brother of JeM chief Masood Azhar.

Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar.

NEW DELHI: Amid international pressure to act after a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) suicide bomber killed 40 CRPF jawans in Jammua and Kashmir's Pulwama, Pakistan has detained at least 44 members of banned outfits, including a brother of JeM chief Masood Azhar. Mufti Abdur Rauf, brother of Azhar, and Hammad Azhar are among those detained during the crackdown, PTI quoted Shehryar Khan Afridi, Pakistan's Minister of State for Interior, as saying at a press conference. He said a dossier shared by India with Pakistan last week also contained names of Mufti Abdur Rauf and Hammad Azhar. He, however, said the action was not taken due to any pressure. The minister said the action would be taken against all the proscribed organisations. Since Balakot strike, India is trying to build maximum pressure on Pakistan on the issue of terrorism. According to sources, India has told the international community that it is not an Indo-Pak issue, but about terrorism. "In order to implement the National Action Plan (NAP), a high level meeting was held in the Ministry of Interior on 4th March 2019, which was attended by representatives of all Provincial Governments," the ministry said in a press statement. "It was decided to speed up action against all proscribed organisation. In compliance, 44 under-observation members of proscribed organisations, including Mum Abdul Raoof and Hamad Azhar, have been taken in preventive detention for investigation." The ministry said these actions will continue as per the decisions taken in National Security Committee (NSC), while reviewing National Action Plan. The move came a day after Pakistan on Monday promulgated a law to streamline the procedure for the implementation of the UN sanctions against individuals and organisations. Interpreting the order, Foreign Office spokesperson Mohammad Faisal said it means that the government has taken over the control of assets and properties of all banned outfits operating in the country. (With inputs from PTI)