Pakistan court sentences three JeM activists for terror funding

An anti-terrorism court in Pakistan has sentenced three activists of the Masood Azhar-led Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) for five years each in jail for arranging funds for the proscribed terror outfit amid pressure from the global community to rein in militant groups.

The Anti-Terrorism Court found the trio guilty in three separate cases on Friday after funds collected for the militant outfit were recovered from them. They were sent to central prison in Gujranwala in Punjab province.

The convicts M Iftikhar, Muhammad Ajmal and Bilal were also fined Rs 45,000, Rs 50,000 and Rs 40,000 respectively besides the sentence.

The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) in Gujranwala had earlier registered a case against them, the Express Tribune reported.

According to Punjab CTD spokesperson, the investigations and prosecutions “are being followed to stop proscribed organisations from indulging in terror financing.” The spokesperson warned these organisations and their leaders to desist from such acts or action would be taken against them.

Pakistan launched a crackdown against supporters of militant outfits after pressure from the international community to stop support to the militant groups.

Three members of the Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed-led Jamaat-ud-Dawa were arrested Thursday on charges of terror financing in Punjab province.

Six JeM members were arrested for allegedly collecting funds for the terror group on Wednesday.

On Monday, three terrorists belonging to the Islamic State (IS) and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) militant groups were arrested by the CTD officials in Pakistan's Punjab province.

Last week, six activists of the JeM and the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) were arrested by the CTD from Gujranwala, Rawalpinid, Multan and Lahore for allegedly collecting funds to finance terrorism.

Paris-based international terror financing watchdog FATF in June last year placed Pakistan onto its watch list in a bid to push the country to halt support for militant groups.

In February, the FATF decided to continue the 'Grey' listing of Pakistan for its failure to stop funding of terrorist groups such as the JeM, the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and the JuD.

The Pakistan government arrested over 100 members of banned outfits including JeM chief Azhar's son and brother and also taken control of JeM, JuD and FIF's properties including seminaries and mosques across the country.