Most JuD activists untraceable in Pakistan

A former Pakistani Colonel considered close to Jamaat-ud-Dawa leader Hafiz Mohammad Saeed has been put under house arrest in Rawalpindi as part of the crackdown on the group, which was declared a terrorist outfit by the United Nations, even as most of its activists in the garrison city and nearby areas remained untraceable.

Police in Rawalpindi have confined top Jamaat-ud-Dawa leader Colonel Retired Nazir Ahmed to his residence in Chaklala for three months, as part of the ongoing clampdown on the front organisation of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba, blamed for the Mumbai attacks.

An official report accessed by the Daily Times showed that 40 wanted JuD activists belonging to Rawalpindi and nearby areas were named in the document. However, police had succeeded in detaining only Ahmed, a close aide of the group's said.
 
Many JuD activists, who remained untraced, belong to Rawalpindi, Jhelum, Attock and Chakwal. Police have also sealed five JuD offices in Rawalpindi, Jhelum and Attock.

Following the crackdown, JuD activists had gone into hiding, the report said. A police official said the net was being tightened around them and they would soon be arrested.

Police and other law enforcement agencies are sharing intelligence and plain-clothedofficials are keeping an eye on the sealed offices, the official said.

JuD chief Saeed, also the founder of LeT, and about 50 leaders and activists of the group have been detained for up to three months as part of the crackdown launched last week.

Authorities have also rounded up more than 20 LeT members, including operations commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, the suspected mastermind of the Mumbai attacks.

The whereabouts of these LeT members were unknown though Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani recently said they were being questioned and investigated by authorities.