12 suspected terrorists linked to Indian spy agency RAW arrested in Punjab raids: CTD

• Arrests made during separate operations in major cities of Punjab.
• Weapons, explosives and detonators recovered from suspects: CTD.
• Suspects had been gathering info of sensitive locations, institutions.

LAHORE: In a major security-related development, the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) arrested 12 suspected terrorists allegedly linked to Indian intelligence agency, Research and Analysis Wing (Raw) in separate operations in major cities of Punjab, the agency said on Monday.

According to a Punjab CTD spokesperson, the arrests were made in Lahore, Faisalabad and Bahawalpur.

The spokesperson said that weapons, explosives and detonators were also recovered from the suspected Indian spy agency members. The CTD officials also seized photos and videos of sensitive locations and institutions, he added.

According to the spokesperson, the images, videos and location details included those of a madrassa (seminary) and a local festival were also recovered.

The suspects arrested from Lahore were identified as Sukh Deep Singh, Azmat, Faizan, Nabeel, Abrar, Usman and Sarfaraz, while the sole suspect arrested from Faisalabad was identified as Danish.

Meanwhile, those arrested from Bahawalpur were identified as Rajab, Hashim, Saqib and Arif.

The CTD described the arrested suspects as members of the terrorist group “Fitna al-Hindustan".

The spokesperson added that the arrests were made with the help of a Facebook ID operated from India by someone named Adil. He said that Singh, one of the arrested suspects, was born Christian and converted to another religion some time ago.

The spokesperson further revealed that the suspects were receiving heavy funding from Raw for organising terrorist activities in Pakistan. Cases have been registered against them and investigation is underway, as per the CTD.

Last month, Pakistan's law enforcement agencies arrested a fisherman working for Indian intelligence agencies to spy on Islamabad, according to ministers Information Minister Atta Tarar and Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry said.

Addressing a presser in the federal capital on November 1, Information Minister Ataullah Tarar said that Ijaz Mallah was taken into custody by Indian authorities in September this year, before he was taken to an undisclosed location and was forced to do some task for them.

“He [Mallah] was offered bribe that he would be compensated and threatened with up to three years imprisonment if he did not comply. He was eventually released by Indian intelligence agencies and sent back to Pakistan with certain tasks," the minister added.

Tarar also said that the fisherman was instructed by Indian agencies to procure uniforms of the Pakistan Army, Navy, and Rangers, along with local SIM cards and phone bills, for espionage purposes.