New Delhi: Pakistani authorities have frozen the bank accounts of some 5,100 terror suspects, including that of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar.
According to a report in Hindustan Times, more than Rs 400 million were contained in these accounts.
Among those whose accounts were frozen by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) – the country’s central bank - are 1,200 suspects included in “category A” of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1997, which covers terrorists who pose an exceptional or high risk.
The 5,100 suspects are all listed in the Fourth Schedule of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1997, said the report.
“Following a request of the ministry of interior, we have frozen accounts of all top suspected terrorists, including Masood Azhar, son of Allah Bux,” a senior official of SBP told The News.
Maulana Masood Azhar, released by India during the 2001 Kandahar hijack and wanted in connection with Pathankot and Uri attacks, is believed to be in the “protective custody” of security agencies in Pakistan.
Pakistan national coordinator of the National Counter-Terrorism Authority (NACTA) also confirmed that accounts of 5100 terrorists had been frozen.
The accounts include those of 3,078 suspects from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the tribal areas, 1,443 from Punjab, 226 from Sindh, 193 from Balochistan, 106 from Gilgit-Baltistan, 27 from the Islamabad Capital Territory and 26 from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
Apart from Azhar, Maulana Abdul Aziz of Islamabad’s radical Lal Masjid, Ahmed Ludhianvi of the Ahl-e-Sunnat Wal Jamaat, Matiur Rehman of al-Qaeda Pakistan and Qari Ehsan of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi are some of the major names whose accounts were frozen.
