LAHORE, Feb 12: Punjab police on Tuesday claimed to have arrested Ahmed Omar Saeed Shaikh, the prime suspect in the kidnapping of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.

Most police officials were avoiding talking to reporters but sources in the department claimed that the arrest had been made early in the day in the Defence Housing Authority and the suspect had been handed over to a Sindh police team within hours.

Sources believed there are indications that Mr Pearl is alive. “Arrangements are being made to shift the suspect to Karachi,” said a senior police official.

It is learnt that the mobile phone dealer, who had been arrested on Monday by the special investigation team in Rawalpindi, had helped the police in arresting Omar Shaikh.

Omar Shaikh is believed to have clues that can lead to the recovery of Mr Pearl.

Omar Shaikh, a British national, emerged as the key suspect following the arrest of three persons who had confessed to having sent to newspapers e-mail messages with the pictures of Mr Pearl. The three suspects had told the police that Omar Shaikh had provided them with Mr Pearl’s photographs and description in a floppy.

Our Staff Reporter adds from Karachi: Ahmed Omar Shaikh, was brought to Karachi on Tuesday night amid strict security and was taken to an unidentified place for interrogation.

“Ahmed Omar Shaikh has been brought to the city and he will be produced before a court on Wednesday to get his remand,” provincial police chief Syed Kamal Shah told Dawn.

He said Omar Shaikh had not revealed to the police anything about Daniel Pearl. Referring to earlier reports, the Sindh police chief said had he (Omar) given any clue about Pearl, the police would have recovered the missing journalist.

Shaikh Omar was not going to break easily and the police would have to thoroughly interrogate him after obtaining his remand from the court on Wednesday.

Shaikh Omar was first brought to Islamabad from Lahore by road as there was no flight for Karachi from Lahore. He was flown to Karachi from Islamabad. He landed at Karachi airport at 10:00pm, the sources added.

They said Shaikh Omar was taken away by the officials of Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for interrogation. They would start joint interrogation with the local police after the court had remanded the suspect to police custody, the sources added.

Aslam Butt adds from Islamabad: Two suspects allegedly involved in the abduction of US journalist Daniel Pearl were sent to judicial lock-up for 14 days by Judicial Magistrate Muhammad Mumtaz Hussain on Tuesday.

Nasir Mehmood and Ijaz were arrested by the Islamabad police in Murree on Friday and remained in the I/9 police custody for three days.

They are believed to be accomplices of the kidnappers of the US journalist, who have been making phone calls to the US Consulate, Karachi, from Islamabad.

They were produced before the magistrate amid extraordinary security measures seldom seen at the district courts.

Investigation Officer Mohammad Shaukat informed the court that the chip of the mobile phone had already been recovered from their possession, and requested the court to send the suspects to the judicial lockup. The court entertained the request.

Two other suspects have been kept in the Adiala jail after the term of their physical remand expired on Monday.

Meanwhile, mobile phone dealer Abdul Majid who was arrested on Monday by the special investigation team was being questioned at some safe house in Islamabad, informed sources said.