Ahead of FATF meet, Pakistan seeks Maulana Masood Azhar’s arrest; court issues warrant

Based on a disclosure made by Pakistani authorities, an anti-terrorism court (ATC) judge at Pakistan’s Gujranwala – Natasha Naseem Supra issued an arrest warrant for Masood Azhar on charges of terror financing and directed that he be produced in court on Friday, they said.

This, Indian officials added, is clearly linked to FATF taking up Pakistan’s case in meetings this month and February. JeM was among the groups specifically named by FATF for terror financing in its reports in the past two years. India has already provided evidence on JeM and Azhar’s role in last year’s Pulwama attack, in which 40 personnel of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were killed, an incident that brought India and Pakistan to the brink of war.

The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) of Pakistan’s Punjab province moved the court seeking an arrest warrant for Azhar on the charges of ‘raising funds’. The CTD had arrested six JeM terrorists – Muhammad Afzal, Muhammad Amir, Allah Ditta, Muhammad Iftikhar, Muhammad Ajmal and Muhammad Bilal Makki, under pressure after the Pulwama attack.

Officials said Azhar’s arrest has been sought in the same case.

“The move is to duck the FATF black listing by showing that it is taking action against United Nations listed terrorists.

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