Amid mounting global pressure on Islamabad to take strong action against terror outfits operating from its soil, the Pakistani government has taken into custody as many as 44 members of the Jaish-e-Muhammad. The list also includes Masood Azhar’s brother Mufti Abdul Raoof.
However, Pakistani officials maintained that the terrorists were taken into custody under ‘Preventive detention for investigation’ and were not arrested under Pakistan’s Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997.
India called the move from Islamabad as a gimmick to cool down the global pressure mounting on them while noting how Pakistan saved Mumbai attack’s mastermind Hafiz Saeed from prosecution on a similar note without booking cases under the Anti-Terrorism Act. “It sounds more as a move to provide security to the Terrorists than actually cracking down on them”, an official claimed.
On the other hand, Pakistan reiterated that the action against possible terror outfits was taken as part of its National Action Plan and not in response to India’s aggression. Pakistan Minister Shehryar Khan Afridi, however, revealed that Mufti Abdul’s name was included in the dossier shared by India on Pulwama attack.
It is interesting to note that Pakistan has not detained Masood Azhar, adding to the already widespread rumours on his death.