LAHORE, Pakistan: Pakistan police said on Monday it had arrested 12 terrorists allegedly linked to India’s intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), during intelligence-based operations in Punjab province of the country.
The intelligence-based operations were conducted in Lahore, Faisalabad, and Bahawalpur of Punjab province.
Punjab Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) spokesperson said the operations were carried out with the support of “sensitive agencies”.
He said that the CTD personnel recovered weapons, explosives, mobile phones, cash, and photos and videos of sensitive locations from the arrested terrorists.
Sensitive material recovered
According to the CTD spokesperson, the seized material included images and videos of a religious seminary and a local festival.
He said the arrested terrorists had filmed sensitive locations, including places of worship, and sent the footage to India via WhatsApp.
Seven improvised explosive devices, two detonators, 102 feet of safety fuse wire, explosives, firearms, mobile phones, and cash were recovered from the terrorists, the spokesperson said.
In Lahore, the CTD arrested seven men identified as Sukhdeep Singh, Azmat, Faizan, Nabeel, Abrar, Usman, and Sarfaraz.
Singh, a Lahore resident, was born Christian and later converted to another religion, the spokesperson said.
One suspect, Danish, was detained in Faisalabad.
Four others — Rajab, Hashim, Saqib, and Arif — were arrested in Bahawalpur. The CTD described them as members of the “Fitna al-Hindustan”.
Fitna al-Hindustan is a state term referring to the banned terrorist groups operating in Pakistan’s Balochistan province.
RAW funding and Facebook account
The CTD spokesperson said all 12 suspects were receiving funding from the Indian spy agency RAW to carry out terrorist activities in Pakistan.
He said the arrests followed an investigation into a Facebook account operated from India under the name “Adil”, which was used to coordinate anti-state activities.
The CTD spokesperson said the terrorists were planning to incite fear and religious hatred in Punjab. They intended to target places of worship and other important sites, the spokesperson said.
“Large-scale terrorism was prevented,” the spokesperson said, adding that cases had been registered and investigations were underway.
Previous arrests linked to RAW
The CTD regularly conducts operations across Pakistan to disrupt terrorist networks. In August, Sindh’s CTD reported RAW’s involvement in a target killing in Badin district and arrested six suspects.
In June, four suspected Indian agents were detained in Karachi’s Quaidabad area.
Last month, federal ministers said a Pakistani fisherman, Ijaz Mallah, had been arrested for allegedly working for Indian intelligence agencies.
According to Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, Mallah was forced to carry out espionage-related tasks after being taken into custody by Indian authorities.
