Continuing their crackdown on terrorist groups, Senior Pakistani officials on Tuesday indicated that four more outfits could be banned in the coming days.
Pakistani security forces have already sealed 137 offices belonging to four groups, including Khuddam-ul-Islam led by Maulana Masood Azhar.
Director General of Pakistan's National Crisis Management Cell, Brigadier (retd) Javed Iqbal Cheema, however, denied reports of mass arrests of members of the banned groups.
He said so far about 63 offices of Sunni militant outfit, Millat-i-Islamia Pakistan, formerly Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan, 45 offices of Khuddam-ul-Islam, and 29 offices of Shia politico-religious party Islami Tehrik-i-Pakistan, formerly Tehrik-i-Jafarya, have been sealed.
He said no leader or activists of these outfits have so far been detained except TIP leader Allama Sajid Naqvi, who was detained on charges of involvement in the murder MIP leader Tariq Azim.
"We are concentrating on sealing the establishments of the banned groups instead of arresting their leaders," he was quoted as saying by the local daily Dawn.
KI leader Masood Azhar remains traced, even though police claimed to have raided his residence in Bahawalpur and various offices of his outfit.
All the three outfits banned three days ago were the groups renamed last year after they were proscribed.
A recent report compiled by Pakistan's Interior Ministry said about 9,000 seminaries exist in the country.
While banning the three new outfits, Pakistan government also placed Jamat-ud-Dawa, the parent outfit of Lashkar-e-Tayiba, on the watch list.
