Several held after raid on ‘Jaish-administered seminary’ in Sialkot

SIALKOT: Several suspicious people were arrested in a raid on a seminary allegedly being run by proscribed Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) militant outfit here on Thursday.

According to sources in Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) Punjab, police commandos and security officials carried out the operation on reports of suspicious people’s presence at the madrassah.

Several suspects were held in the raid, they added.

A number of national identity cards and controversial books and literature were also taken into custody by the security officials.

The seminary has been sealed for further investigation, sources told Geo News.

The development comes a day after Pakistan announced it had arrested several members of the Jaish-e-Mohammad militant group, which is suspected of being behind a terrorist attack earlier this month on an Indian air base.

The prime minister's office had said in a statement that the government had made “considerable progress” in investigating the attack, and it wanted to send a team of special investigators to probe the Pathankot air base attack in India.

“Based on the initial investigations in Pakistan, and the information provided, several individuals belonging to Jaish-e-Mohammad, have been apprehended,” the office of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said.

“The offices of the organisation are also being traced and sealed. Further investigations are underway,” it said.