Islamabad, Oct, 19: Crackdown on Madressahs by government, to looking into their activities and to ensure that militants are not hiding there in the guise of students, 28 suspects was arrested, here on Monday.
The suspects staying in seminaries at Sector F-6/4 and Bhara Kahu were believed to be affiliated with the proscribed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Weapons were also seized from the suspects.
Initially six suspects arrested and taken to the local police stations from where they were shifted to undisclosed locations for further interrogation.
Sources told that, a teacher of a religious seminary was arrested near the Federal Government Services Hospital a few days ago, who told police that several militants groups affiliated with different organisation, including the TTP, had succeeded in entering Islamabad.
The sources said over a dozen militants were identified, adding that law enforcement agencies were making efforts to trace and arrest them.
The teams checked 10 madressahs, including Jamia Mohammadia, Jamia Qurtuba, Jamia Abbasia and Jamia Kazmia in Sihala area.
It was found that many students under the age of 16 and hailing from Batal, Batgram, Balakot, Bajour and Swat were studying there. Some of the teachers also hailed from these areas.
Four seminaries, located in Barakhu area were also searched. Included among them were Jamia Farooqia and Jamia Omar of the Deobandi sect and one of the Shia sect. Darul Huda in Golra was also searched.
Interior Minister Rehman Malik said that action would also be taken against foreign nationals working as prayer leaders.
“We will not allow any foreigner to become Imam-i-Masjid,” the minister said in a statement shortly after the crackdown was launched on the basis of intelligence reports that some of the suspects from the war zone of South Waziristan had taken refuge in madressahs and they could carry out terrorist attacks in Islamabad and other parts of the country.
Earlier, Wafaqul Madressahs, an association of seminaries, criticised the action and announced that such steps could undermine the agreement it had recently signed with the government.
Office-bearers of the Wafaqul Madressahs Maulana Saleemullah Khan and Mualana Muhammad Hanif Jalandhry claimed in a joint statement that police did not find anything objectionable in those seminaries.
Meanwhile, a joint team of city police and an intelligence agency raided an area adjacent to Sabzi Mandi and arrested 22 suspects, two of them women hailing from Fata and Afghanistan.
The arrests were made after intelligence agencies reported that pro-Taliban suspects were hiding in the area and they were involved in procuring weapons for militants for use in acts of terror in different parts of the country.
Later, a delegation comprising scholars of Wafaqul Madaris met Deputy Inspector General of Police (Operations) Binyamin here on Monday.
In the meeting, they agreed that no foreigner would be given admission to any seminary or appointed as a prayer leader.
It was also decided that no one, student or teacher, would be allowed to keep weapons in seminaries.
Similarly, guests would not be allowed to visit or stay in seminaries, however, blood relatives of the students could meet their kin by following a proper procedure.
They also agreed that administrations of seminaries would keep sharing information with the police and district administration in future.
Separately, high-ups of the police department decided to make a comprehensive strategy to get information about terrorist elements and also to maintain high vigilance to thwart their nefarious designs.
It was decided in a meeting that E-7, F-7 and G-7 sectors are now in the high-security zone by stretching the police cordon from Seventh Avenue to Faisal Avenue.
In this regard over a dozen checkpoints would be set up in and around the Faisal Avenue to keep an eye on suspects and check their entry into the high-security zone.
The meeting said every possible effort should be made to root out the menace of terrorism and police wings like Special Branch, Crime Investigation Department, Islamabad Traffic Police, operational police and Police Line Headquarters would evolve a strategy to get information about the anti-social elements.
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