By IANS
Islamabad : Militants, owing allegiance to a tribal warlord in violence-scarred Swat Valley of North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan, have captured a “radical cleric” accusing him of spying on Taliban.
Armed supporters of Maulana Fazlullah of Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM), a banned Pakistani Islamic militant group, captured Maulana Mohammad Ali alias Maulana Nider and seized 36 AK-47 rifles from his compound in Bara Bandi area of Swat Sunday, Dawn News reported Monday.
A spokesman of Fazlullah, Maulana Sirajuddin, said Ali had been interrogated at a secret location.
The newspaper, quoting locals, said Ali belonged to Karachi and had come to Swat a few years ago. He operated an FM radio station and was reported to have developed differences with Fazlullah.
The militants also took control of his FM radio station, according to the Dawn News report.
With the support of more than 4,500 armed volunteers, Fazlullah virtually runs a “parallel government” in 59 villages in Swat and has started Islamic courts to enforce strict Islamic law. He also runs an FM channel in Swat.
Fazlullah’s supporters also seized heavy weapons, including rocket launchers and machine-guns, which they had found in a safety tank of a government-run hospital.
The militants said paramilitary forces had dumped the weapons in the tank before surrendering to them.
Earlier, they kidnapped and later released district official Malik Mohammad Sadiq from the Tiligram area.