The law-enforcement agencies personnel carried out a massive search operation at two seminaries here and rounded up at least 10 people, including three teachers and a Pride of Performance winning calligrapher for questioning. The late Saturday raids at a mosque and a shrine were made by the agencies investigating into assassination attempts on President Pervez Musharraf. The agencies personnel picked up calligrapher Syed Anwar Hussain Nafees Raqam from his Kareem Park residence and nine others from Baqiautush Shuhada (for boys) and Darul Uloom Madnia-Lil-Muslimat (for females), adjacent to Khanqah Syed Ahmad Shaheed. The arrested people are being questioned at the Sabzazar Police Station.
Anwar was released after a couple of hours of questioning. He told The News that police cordoned off his house after Maghrib prayers. "First they showed me a photo of somebody, calling him Ihsan and asked for his whereabouts. I informed them that I didn’t know the man," he said. JUI-F office-bearer Maulana Mohibun Nabi said that the police searched the entire premises. "They broke open the drawers and cabinets in search of something but did not take away anything. They remained there for a couple of hours and picked up nine men," Mohib said, identifying five of them as Maulana Habeeb Ahmad, Maulana Muhammad Yaqoob, Maulana Muhammad Ismail, Zubair and Ejaz.
| Sure are a bunch of maulanas involved in this hoedown... |
Maulana Habeeb, Maulana Yaqoob and Maulana Ismail are teachers, while the other two are on ordinary duties at the Madaris, Mohib said and added that they were taken to the Sabzazar Police Station.
| Being holy men, I expect they didn't fall down the stairs like so many other people do... |
According to Anwer, the investigators were receiving directions from the federal capital and were "forced to complete their assignment by hook and by crook".
| Sounds like the heat's on. Though holy men always bitch when they get caught like that... |
"They let me go after a couple of hours and started investigating the others," he added.
"Mahmoud! Bring me the Number 4 pliers!"
"Yessir! Would you like them heated?" |
Ihsan, with moustache and some hair on chin as his photo showed, is a suspect of the assassination attempt on the president. The calligrapher and the JUI office-bearer said they know each other but none of them knew Ihsan or the man shown in the photo. The shrine has been set up by the calligrapher for observing his prayers and attending his followers, while the seminaries have been set up by the people held from there. Separately, intelligence agencies personnel and police raided a private hospital and two Madaris in Sargodha on Sunday and took five people into custody from there. However, the detained people, including the hospital’s administrator Jawad Ahmad, were released after 12-hour of interrogation about an al-Qaeda or Taliban suspect. Heavy police contingent and elite force sealed the area of blocks 12, 14, 18 and its adjourned roads and raided Rafiqa Medical Centre. According to an eyewitness, two foreigners also accompanied the raiding party.
| Samoans? Itinerant Equimeaux? FBI? Pick one. |
However, the local police did not confirm it, saying that they were not informed about the operation.
| "A curse on their moustaches," added spokeman Mahmoud ul-Weasel. |
The agencies personnel also raided two Madaris in Maqam-e-Hayat and Satellite Town. According to sources, the personnel were questioning about an injured person who was admitted to the hospital during the last five days. They also took in custody the record of telephone bills of two months and the admission record of the hospital. According to the sources, the raiding team was looking for Dr Hafiz Abdul Rehman, who belongs to Jamaat-e-Islami. He was not present and they arrested Jawad, Nasar Iqbal, Zaheer and Suleman.
| "What do you mean, 'he ain't here'? Awright! You four! Into the paddy wagon! Mahmoud! Did you bring the truncheon?" |
However, the arrested people were released after 12-hour investigation at the Cantt Police Station.
"Awright! Youse can go! Don't lemme see youse around here again!"
"Ow."
"Ow."
"Ow."
"Thank you, sir. May I have another?." |
Sources told The News that the operation was conducted on a tip-off that an al-Qaeda or Taliban member was being treated at the hospital. Jawad told The News that the authorities asked him about a Taliban. He said that Dr Hafiz Abdul Rehman was in Raiwind along with a team of doctors. He added that two persons, who were arrested from the city during the raid, were being shifted to Islamabad. |