Indian activists in Mumbai carry placards of the chief of Jaish-e-Mohammad, Maulana Masood Azhar during a protest against the attack on the air force base in Pathankot (AFP photo)
Masood Azhar, chief of the terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed,
was detained in Islamabad two days ago, sources have said. Four of his key aides have also been detained.
Sources told NDTV that on Monday, January 11, Pakistani officials raided a house in Islamabad's sector G 10/4, said to be the home of Masood Azhar's brother in law Ashfaq Ahmed.
The raid was carried out on information received from Peshawar, the sources said, and people were brought in to identify the family. A team of interrogators was at the house for about 12 hours from 3 am to 3 pm.
Among those reportedly taken into custody were Ashfaq Ahmed and Masood Azhar's brother Mufti Abdul Rauf.
Pakistan's
The News reported that Masood Azhar has been taken to an undisclosed destination and is being questioned. Some media reports described him as being under "protective custody."
Late Wednesday, Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said there has been no official confirmation of the Jaish chief's arrest.
India has accused Masood Azhar of plotting the deadly terror attack on the Pathankot air force base earlier this month in which seven military personnel were killed and another 20 injured.
It has handed over evidence to Pakistan which reportedly includes recordings of phone calls between the terrorists and their handlers in Pakistan, including Masood Azhar.
The names of the top Jaish bosses were given by India to Pakistan last week, as Delhi made it clear that it expects urgent action from Islamabad to punish those responsible for the Pathankot attack.
India made it clear that without concrete action, it would not proceed with Foreign Secretary talks between the countries, tentatively planned for Friday, January 15.
Six terrorists attacked the Pathankot air force base pre-dawn on January 2. Military operations to kill the terrorists and secure the base lasted nearly 80 hours.
Masood Azhar and two other Pakistani terrorists
were freed by India in December 1999 in exchange for the passengers of an Indian Airlines flight hijacked to Kandahar in Afghanistan.
The hijacking, from the Kathmandu airport, was reportedly masterminded by Masood Azhar's brother Ibrahim Athar. Once the three terrorists in Indian custody were handed over to the hijackers, they fled to Pakistan.