NEW DELHI: Terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed's chief Masood Azhar's brother Mufti Abdul Raoof has been taken into preventive detention, Pakistan's Interior Ministry said today. Mufti Abdul Raoof is among 44 members of banned groups that have been detained. The Pakistan government said in a statement "It was decided to speed up action against all proscribed organisations. In compliance, 44 under-observation members of proscribed organisations, including Mufti Abdul Raoof and Hamad Azhar, have been taken in preventive detention for investigation,".

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The statement added "These actions will continue, as per the decisions taken in National Security Committee (NSC), while reviewing National Action Plan,". Pakistan is on a deadline fixed by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an international organisation that works to stop terror funding, to crack down on terror groups and their supporters who are running free in the country.

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Pakistan is already on the 'grey list' and could be blacklisted if it failed to act on the promises it had given to the FATF. A blacklist would make it very difficult for Prime Minister Imran Khan's country to take loans from international financial institutions such as the World Bank and may be downgraded by top ratings agencies.