A Pakistan minister broke the country's silence on the arrest of Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Maulana Masood Azhar and told Dawn News that Azhar is in "protective custody". The news was confirmed by Punjab province's law minister, Rana Sanaullah, PTI reported. Pakistan did not confirm if they detained the JeM chief earlier, simply announcing that several members of the terror module had been arrested. The report states that Sanaullah clarified the JeM chief was not arrested but in custody of the Punjab police counter-terrorism department. Indian officials suspect the terror group to be behind the Pathankot attacks.

The report comes a day after India on Friday welcomed Pakistan’s crackdown on the terror group and confirmed that talks between the two countries have been postponed. Foreign secretary-level talks had earlier been scheduled for Friday. Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Vikas Swarup also said India would host the Special Investigative Team instituted by Pakistan’s Prime Minister, but before that it expects Pakistan to file an FIR on actionable evidence found during its investigation into the Pathankot attacks.

Advertisement

Pakistan on Thursday confirmed that it had detained several JeM members. dna reported that the Facebook page of Al-Rahmat, a front for JeM, denied the arrests, and said that even if JeM chief Maulana Masood Azhar was arrested, it would change nothing.

JeM’s online mouthpiece al Qalam also warned Pakistan of action against its group, The Times of India reported. Azhar reportedly said that the government’s cracking down on his group would be “very dangerous” for the country. He accused Pakistan leaders of being guided by “those who are not our own”, and said that he had never harmed Pakistan’s government ever, something that he is sorry that the rulers “have no respect for”.