Lahore, March 7: Pakistan authorities Thursday sealed the Lahore headquarters of Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed-led Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) and its charity wing Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation (FIF) and detained over 120 suspected militants as part of an ongoing crackdown on banned groups.
“Under the National Action Plan (NAP), the government has taken complete control of the banned JuD and FIF headquarters in Lahore and Muridkey,” said a statement issued by the Punjab Home department Thursday.
It said the government has been taking over the control of the mosques, seminaries and other institutions of the banned organisations in the province. “We have intensified action against the banned organisations,” it said.
A senior Punjab government official told PTI that the authorities have sealed the Jamia Masjid Qadsia, the Lahore headquarters of the JuD and FIF.
“At least six administrators of the Punjab government have been appointed at the Muridke headquarters of JuD and two in Lahore’s,” the official said, adding that the Jamia Qadsia has been sealed and will be opened once the administrators take over the charge. The official said the Punjab government has also taken over the complete control of the JuD headquarters in Muridke, some 40-km from Lahore. However, the home department did not confirm it.
The official further said that Saeed and his supporters did not protest when the administration and police reached there to take over the control of the building.
“Saeed along with his supporters left for his Jauhar Town residence,” he said. His whereabouts was not immediately known.
Saeed was listed under UN Security Council Resolution 1267 in December 2008. He was released from house arrest in Pakistan in November 2017. Meanwhile, – Pakistan intensified its crackdown against Islamist militants Thursday, with the government announcing it had taken control of 182 religious schools and detained more than 100 people as part of its push against banned groups. Meanwhile, Pakistan turned down the visa request of a UN team which wanted to interview Mumbai attack mastermind and Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed on his application for removing his name from the UNSC sanctions list, according to UN sources.
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