Pakistan’s Ministry of Interior said on Friday that the Punjab provincial government has taken control of a complex in Bahawalpur city, believed to be the headquarters of the Jaish-e-Mohammed extremist group. The group has claimed responsibility for a suicide attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama on February 14 that killed 40 Central Reserve Police Force jawans.
A Ministry of Interior spokesperson said that the Punjab government has appointed an administrator to handle the affairs of the complex, which houses a mosque and a seminary, Dawn reported.
The spokesperson said that 600 students are enrolled at the campus, and it has a faculty of 70 teachers. The Punjab Police have taken over the security of the campus, he added.
Pakistan on Thursday banned the Hafiz Saeed-led Jamat-ud-Dawa and its charity wing Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation. The country’s National Security Committee took the decision at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan. Saeed is the co-founder of terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba, which masterminded the 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people.
On Friday, the interior ministry spokesperson said the action of taking over the Bahawalpur complex was in line with the decisions the National Security Committee had taken the previous day, The Express Tribune reported.
Imran Khan had on February 19 criticised India for blaming Pakistan for the Pulwama attack, “without any evidence”. He said Pakistan will investigate India’s claims if provided “actionable evidence”.
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