Pak places Masood Azhar under house arrest

Jaish-e-Mohammed founder and top terrorist Maulana Masood Azhar has been placed under house arrest.

Jaish-e-Mohammed founder and top terrorist Maulana Masood Azhar has been placed under house arrest as international pressure mounted on Pakistan to act against such “non-state actors” in the aftermath of the Mumbai attacks in which Pakistani elements were found to be involved.

Restrictions were imposed on Tuesday on Azhar’s movements and he was confined to his Bahawalpur home, which was ringed by security personnel, Dawn News channel quoted sources in the interior ministry as saying.

The Pakistani action came even as Islamabad rejected India’s demand to hand over the JeM founder along with two 1993 Bombay blasts accused – underworld dons Dawood Ibrahim and Tiger Memon.

Masood’s organisation is widely believed to have close links with other major terror groups operating out of Pakistan like al-Qaeda and Lashkar-e-Toiba and runs a number of terror training camps in PoK as well as other areas of Pakistan.

The action against Masood came a day after security forces arrested key LeT commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhwi, suspected to be the mastermind of the Mumbai attacks, along with 20 other militants. The Pakistan Army today said the crackdown against the banned militant group will continue.

“More arrests are expected,” an army official said adding that operations will continue till “desired results” are achieved.

A contingent of security personnel had been deployed outside Azhar’s house since yesterday, the sources said but added that he would not be handed over to India.

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No action would be taken against Masood, sources said unless India provides “concrete evidence” of his involvement in the Mumbai attacks.

India’s demand to hand him over along with Dawood and Memon was made in a demarche on December 1. Pakistan turned down the demand, but said it would take action under the country’s laws against any Pakistani national found to be involved in the Mumbai attacks.

Azhar formed the Jaish shortly after he was freed by Indian authorities along with two other terrorists in exchange for passengers of an Indian Airlines flight hijacked from Kathmandu to Kandahar in 1999.

Masood had been arrested in Srinagar in a sudden swoop by the authorities and had later told police officials that he had infiltrated to Kashmir to form a broad umbrella organisation of the various Pakistan supported groups.

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His movements have been restricted by Pakistan in the past too when India had demanded his handing over.

There have been reports in recent months that Azhar and the Jaish had stepped up activities, including the raising of funds and organising large rallies, in the Bahawalpur area.

Azhar and his group had faced restrictions in the wake of the 2001 attack on the Indian parliament and the 2003 suicide attacks on former President Pervez Musharraf.

The Jaish was renamed as Khudam-ul-Islam and reorganised under the command of Mufti Abdul Rauf, the younger brother of Azhar.