Police on Thursday arrested the head of a banned group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi accused of inciting sectarian hatred and masterminding an attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in 2009, police said. Intelligence agencies have taken Malik Ishaq into their custody. According to the police, two cases are already registered against Malik Ishaq in Nishtar Colony police station.
Malik Ishaq, leader of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi which is said to have links to al Qaeda, was arrested from Lahore Airport after his return from Saudi Arabia, police spokeswoman Nabila Ghazanfar said. "I can confirm his arrest," she said, adding that Ishaq will be produced in a local court on Friday. Police had registered a case against him after his "provocative speech to spread sectarian hatred" at a religious gathering in Lahore earlier this month, police official Liaquat Ali said.