The authorities have apprehended two extortionists who are affiliated with the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a group Pakistan claims to have safe havens in Afghanistan. Imran Shahid identified the arrested individuals, Zaman Faiz and Saeedullah, as Afghan citizens.
They were apprehended in Lahore, and their mobile phones were seized. These extortionists targeted businesspeople, politicians, and others, with victims often refraining from reporting to local authorities out of fear.
According to Shahid, "The arrested individuals operated in district Mohmand and had 71 other accomplices. This network even reached out to politicians, including a senator and a member of the provincial assembly, to demand extortion money."
The CTD official disclosed that the arrested TTP members had created ten WhatsApp groups related to extortion. The banned TTP had been significantly weakened by military operations in 2014, following a devastating attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar, which claimed the lives of nearly 150 people, primarily students. TTP fighters fled to Afghanistan, where they were pursued by US-led forces.