New Delhi: Declaring that disbelievers and hypocrites across the world were celebrating an arrest that never happened, Jiash-e-Muhammad, on Thursday, rejected claims of leader Maulana Masood Azhar's arrest over alleged role in Pathankot air base attack, in a social media group.
According to Indian Express, JeM, in a Facebook community it uses to communicate with media and followers said that the arrest was not true, and even if it were, it would not matter much. There will be more enthusiasm and excitement among the faithful and would prompt the jihadist organisation to gather more strength and energy, they said.
Adding that one must not take the organisation as helpless and weak, the statement said, "You made the children of the martyr Afzal Guru cry, and since then, you have been crying, screaming and shrieking everyday."
Pakistan's Punjab province Law Minister Rana Sanaullah had earlier on Thursday confirmed that Masood Azhar had been taken into "protective custody" along with his accomplices, but clarified he was "not arrested."
"Masood Azhar has been taken into protective custody by the Punjab police counter-terrorism department," Sanaullah told Dawn News.
Earlier, the government chose not to confirm or deny the reports that Azhar has been taken into "protective custody".
"We have taken Maulana Azhar and his fellows under protective custody in connection with the Pathankot incident. However, we will arrest him if his involvement in the Pathankot attack is proved," Sanaullah said.
He added that operation against banned outfits including JeM would continue under the National Action Programme. India has identified Azhar as the mastermind of the Pathankot attack on January 2. It has also blamed his brother Rauf and five others for carrying out the attack in which seven Indian soldiers were killed along with all the six terrorists.
India has shared this information along with two Pakistani phone numbers that were made calls to by the terrorists. According to reports, security agencies have arrested 31 activists of JeM from different parts of the province.
After a high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif yesterday, his office issued a statement which said that "several individuals" belonging to JeM have been apprehended in connection with the Pathankot terror attack and some of its offices traced and sealed.
Pakistan earlier said that the Indo-Pak Foreign Secretary-level talks will not take place as scheduled and a news briefing said that both sides were holding consultations to reschedule the talks.
Last week India put the ball squarely in Pakistan's court, linking the FS-level talks to Islamabad's "prompt and decisive" action in the Pathankot terror attack for which it has provided "actionable intelligence".
Narendra Modi had asked his Pakistan counterpart Nawaz Sharif for prompt and decisive action on the basis of specific evidence.
Sharif had set up a committee of his top intelligence, army and government officers to investigate India's allegations.
