ISLAMABAD: A total of 35 operatives of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), including its founder Masood Azhar, have been detained by Pakistani authorities but there has been no other progress in the investigation into the Pathankot attack, sources said on Tuesday.
Police officials said apart from raids conducted last week on seminaries in Punjab, no other action has been taken by authorities to extend their sweep to other provinces where the JeM is active. Officials said they were told not to go after JeM seminaries in Sindh and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
No charge-sheet has been framed and those who have been detained will have to be released within 60 days if prosecutors do not come up with evidence against JeM operatives, sources said.
The ISI appears to have taken a step back after initially handling the detentions. This is being seen as an indicator that the detained people will be released soon.
There is also confusion over who has custody of Azhar and whether he has actually been arrested. Rana Sanauallah, the law minister of Punjab province and a top leader of the PML-N, has only said Azhar is in “protective custody”.
Though Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif offered to send a special investigation team to Pathankot to gather evidence, it is now clear that the Pakistani side has slowed down its action against the JeM.
Indian defence minister Manohar Parrikar’s remarks this week about not allowing Pakistani investigators into the Pathankot airbase was seen as the last straw by the Pakistani side.“We extended a hand of cooperation but India did not reciprocate,” said a foreign office official.
During a meeting between Sharif and Pakistan army chief Gen Raheel Sharif, the civil and military establishment reportedly decided to adopt a “wait and watch” approach.
“The JeM is emerging as the new Jamaat-ud-Dawah,” journalist Amir Ahmad said during a TV talk show on Wednesday. Ahmad said that like the JuD, the JeM operates freely in parts of Pakistan. “And like the leaders of the JuD, we will see the leaders of the JeM being freed by courts as the Sharif government struggles to find evidence,” he added.
JeM Chief yet to be detained by Pak: Report
