Four held for alleged links with Ilyas Kashmiri
Intelligence agencies raid house in Millat, arrest four and recover important documents.
Four people were arrested in Faisalabad on Tuesday for alleged links with Harkatul Jihad al Islami (HuJI) leader Ilyas Kashmiri, who is believed killed in a US drone attack in South Waziristan on June 3.
Sources said a special team of intelligence agencies raided a house in Faisalabad’s Millat Town on Sargodha Road. Manan Pathan and three of his nephews, later identified as Adil, Farooq and Usman, were arrested on suspicion of having contacts with Kashmiri.
Sources revealed that Pathan had come to visit his nephews two months ago and started living with them.
Important documents and maps were also recovered from the house, which was later sealed by the police.
Sources claimed that all the four have been shifted to an undisclosed location outside Faisalabad for further interrogation.
Kashmiri, 47, was chief of the dreaded 313 Brigade of HJUI – a militant group described by the US as an operational wing of al Qaeda. The 313 Brigade is widely believed to have masterminded the May 22 attack on PNS Mehran.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 8th, 2011.