LAHORE: Pakistan’s law enforcement agencies have arrested five people here while busting an illegal telephone gateway exchange allegedly being operated by the Taliban to make ransom calls to families of persons kidnapped by the militant group. Though Lahore police chief Rai Tahir did not confirm how many arrests were made during Tuesday’s raid, police sources say at least five suspects including women have been taken into custody.
The raiding team also found weapons and explosives in the house in the thickly-populated area of Green Town in Lahore.
A police officer called the exchange an “International Technical Hub” that would show dialling code numbers of Afghanistan and tribal areas of Pakistan, making the receivers believe that the calls were coming from these areas. (Agencies)