Punjab’s Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) has claimed to have foiled major terror plans with the arrest of 49 suspected terrorists during a month-long province-wide crackdown.
The operation also included the arrest of a “dangerous operative” allegedly linked to India’s intelligence agency RAW.
CTD officials identified the suspect as Mujtaba, who was arrested during an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in the provincial capital.
A large quantity of explosives and maps of important buildings were also recovered, indicating plans to target sensitive installations in multiple cities.
In a statement, a CTD spokesperson said the arrests were made after 425 IBOs across Punjab to pre-empt potential terrorist activity. During these operations, 427 suspects were also questioned.
Thr 49 arrests were made across multiple districts, including Lahore, Sahiwal, Rawalpindi, Toba Tek Singh, Hafizabad, Gujranwala, Chakwal, Jhelum, Dera Ghazi Khan, Faisalabad, Chiniot, Pakpattan, Khushab, Okara, Attock, Sheikhupura, and Vehari.
As per the details of recovered arms, CTD seized 16,480 grams of explosives, two hand grenades, 36 detonators, 58 feet of safety fuse wire, six improvised explosive devices (IEDs), pamphlets and magazines of banned organisations, SIM cards, mobile phones and cash.
The spokesperson said that 44 cases had been registered against the arrested individuals, with further investigation ongoing to determine their networks and facilitators.
Separately, CTD, with support from local police and other security agencies, conducted 6,131 combing operations across the province. During these operations, 243,546 individuals were checked, 599 suspects arrested, 568 FIRs registered and 477 recoveries made.
Reaffirming its commitment to security, the CTD spokesperson said the department would continue action against terrorists and anti-state elements and urged citizens to report suspicious activity to the CTD Punjab helpline at 0800-11111.