More than 19,000 people have been arrested in Pakistan on different charges under a government crackdown following the Peshawar school massacre by Taliban in which 150 people, mostly students, were killed, officials said today.
Law enforcement agencies arrested 19,272 people on different charges during operations conducted across the country under the National Action Plan, according to a report submitted to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
The action plan was launched to eradicate terrorism and extremism from Pakistan following the Taliban assault on an army-run school on December 16. Out of the 150 people killed in the attack, 136 were students.
According to the report based on information available from December 24 last year to February 21, security agencies conducted 19,789 operations across Pakistan.
Most of the suspects were arrested from Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh and Balochistan.
The police also arrested 2,497 people for violating norms regulating loud speakers.
In total, 580 cases have been registered for spreading hate speech. The law enforcement agencies arrested 518 people on these charges.
According to the report, 5,066 Afghan refugees have been deported.
The Federal Investigation Agency has arrested 26 people for alleged involvement in money transfer through Hawala and recovered Rs 75.8 million.
