Pakistan Freezes $5.9 Million Worth 5100 Terror Suspects' Bank Accounts

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has frozen the bank accounts with more than Rs 400 million (US$5.9 million) of over 5,100 terror suspects, including Masood Azhar, chief of militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).

The blockade will cut off major funding for the terror organisations. “We have taken the step to freeze accounts of all top terror suspects, after a request from Ministry of Interior,” said a senior official of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), local media reported Monday. 

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) froze the accounts of 1,200 suspects included in “category A” of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1997, which covers terrorists who pose an exceptional or high risk.

The 5,100 suspects are all listed in the Fourth Schedule of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1997, Azhar was included in “category A. "It happened since the government put the JeM chief under 'protective custody' of security agencies after terrorists attacked the Pathankot Airbase," the officials said.

The National Counterterrorism Authority (Nacta) sent around 5,500 names to the SBP earlier this month.

"More than 3,078 accounts of suspects whose accounts were frozen belonged to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Fata, 1,443 from Punjab.

Further, 226 from Sindh, 193 from Balochistan, 106 from Gilgit-Baltistan and 27 from the Islamabad Capital Territory," The paper also added that the list includes 26 suspects belonged to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

Accounts of other suspects such as cleric of Islamabad's Lal Masjid Maulana Aziz, Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat leaders Maulvi Ahmed Ludhianvi and Aurangzeb Faroogi, Matiur Rehman of al-Qaeda, Mansoor alias Ibrahim of Tehreek-e-Taliban and Qari Ehsan alias Ustad Huzaifa and Ramzan Mengal of Lashkar-e- Jhangvi were also frozen.