Pak police arrest man for threatening to conduct terror attack on Australian cricket team

PTI, Apr 15, 2022, 5:31 PM IST

Police in Pakistan’s Punjab province have arrested a suspect for issuing a threat to carry out a terror attack on the Australian cricket team during its Lahore tour early this month.

The Australian cricket team concluded its tour of Pakistan early this month in which it played three tests and as many ODIs, and one T20.

Following a threat call to the Australian interior ministry that the team would be attacked in Lahore, the Pakistani intelligence agencies launched an investigation into it. ”On Thursday, police traced the man who made the terror attack threat to the Australian interior ministry, and arrested him,” police officer concerned Mubashir Maken told reporters.

He said the suspect, Irfan Naseer, was arrested from Toba Tek Singh, some 200 kilometres from Lahore.

”A case has been registered against him under Anti-Terrorism Act and Telegraph Act,” he said, adding that the police and intelligence agency traced the suspect through his mobile phone data.

The officer said the police are also probing his link with any banned outfit.

Australian spinner Ashton Agar, who was part of the test squad during Pakistan’s tour, was also the subject of a death threat on social media.

Later, it was found that the threat was issued from a fake Instagram account.