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