JeM Operatives Arrested by Pak Were From South Punjab Districts

Between 10-12 Jaish-e-Mohammad operatives have been picked up from South Punjab in Pakistan.

File photo of Pakistani cleric and Jaish-e-Mohammad Maulana, Masood Azhar (left). (Photo: Reuters)

The 10-12 suspected Jaish-e-Mohammad operatives arrested by Pakistani law enforcement agencies for their suspected involvement in the Pathankot attack on January 1 were picked up from at least four locations in south Punjab of the country.

According to Pakistani media sources who covered the arrests, on the basis of some information provided by Indian authorities, the JeM operatives were picked up from Bahawalpur, Bahawalnagar, Multan and Rahim Yaar Khan. Pakistani authorities have not revealed the names of those arrested as they believe that disclosure of their identities would harm investigations.

A few offices of the banned JeM were sealed. The sources said that the Pakistani action was significant considering the meeting between National Security Advisors of the two countries in a third location over the next 48 hours. Indian NSA Ajit Doval is said to be in Paris, prompting analysts to believe that the meeting between him and his Pakistani counterpart Lieutenant General (retd) Nasser Khan Janjua would be held in a European country.

The sources said that two vital pieces of information that New Delhi shared with Islamabad were “developed” by a joint team of Pakistani investigators who quickly swooped down on a few buildings used by the JeM in southern Punjab.

The information India provided related to the transcripts of the conversation that the terrorists who struck at the Pathankot air base had with their handlers across the border. The sources said that Pakistani investigators “were looking” at other angles of the JeM’s involvement in the Pathankot strike, including the possibility of a few phone calls made to Indians before the terrorists sneaked into Indian territory through an unguarded and unfenced portion of the border.