Days after India launched an air strike on a major training camp of Jaish-e-Mohammad at Balakot, the terror group's chief Masood Azhar's brother Mufti Abdul Raoof and 43 others were taken into preventive custody, said Pakistan's Interior Ministry.
"It was decided to speed up action against all proscribed organisations. In compliance, 44 under-observation members of proscribed organisations, including Mufti Abdul Raoof and Hamad Azhar, have been taken in preventive detention for investigation," says a statement issued by Pakistan government on Tuesday.
"These actions will continue, as per the decisions taken in National Security Committee (NSC), while reviewing National Action Plan," the statement added.
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The move comes amid continuing tension between the nuclear armed neighbours, which began after a suicide attack orchestrated by the JeM on a CRPF convoy at Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir on February 14.
India's strike at Balakot had led to an aerial engagement between the air forces of the two countries that resulted in the loss of a fighter jet from each side and the detention of an IAF pilot by the Pakistan Army. The wing commander, Abhinandan Varthaman, was released after two days.
Ministry of Interior Secretary Azam Suleman Khan, at a press conference, acknowledged that some people who have been detained are named in the dossier handed by India to Pakistan on the Pulwama attack.
The Dawn newspaper reported that the Pakistan government had on Monday notified a 2019 order of the United Nations Security Council that would provide a legal basis for freezing or seizure of properties owned by individuals and organisations designated by the council as terrorists.
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has set a deadline for Pakistan to crack down on terror groups and their supporters who are running free in the country. India has been trying to get Masood Azhar listed as a global terrorist, a move supported by all countries in the UNSC except China.
India freed Masood Azhar and two other terrorists in 1999 to secure the safe release of passengers of Indian Airlines Flight 814 (IC 814) that was hijacked by Harkat-ul-Mujahideen with tacit support from Pakistan's ISI.
