Masood Azhar under house arrest in Pak

Islamabad, Dec 9: Pakistan administration on Tuesday, Dec 9 has officialy confirmed that the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) founder Maulana Masood Azhar is detained and placed under house arrest, turning down India's demand for handing him over.

Azhar was freed by Indian administration in 1999 with two other terrorists in exchange for passengers of an Indian Airlines flight hijacked from Kathmandu to Kandahar of Afghanistan. The News quoted the Pak officials saying that Azhar's activites had been restricted in the wake of India's demand to hand him over along with criminals Dawood Ibrahim and Tiger Memon. On Monday, Dec 8 Pakistan Army said that it had launched an operation against the banned terrorist outfits.

Sources said that Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, the Lashkar-e-Toiba commander is also among the 20 militants arrested during the crackdown. The Pakistan government on Monday, Dec 9 turned down India's demand to hand over Azhar, Dawood Ibrahim and Tiger Memon. The demand had been made in a demarche handed over by India in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks.

Azhar's movements have been restricted in the past too when India had demanded his handing over. There have been reports in recent months that Azhar and the Jaish had stepped up activities, including the raising of funds and organising large rallies, in the Bahawalpur area.

OneIndia News (With input from Agencies)