KARACHI: An antiterrorism court has recovered assets worth over Rs40.5 million owned by slain Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour using fake identities in Pakistan before his death in a US drone attack carried out in 2016.

The recovered money has been deposited in the government treasury, the judicial sources and investigators disclosed before an antiterrorism court, which had ordered auction of six properties purchased by the Afghan Taliban leader in Karachi and the recovery of the money invested by him in a life insurance policy purchased from a private company.

During the investigation of a case in 2019, it had emerged that the Taliban leader and his accomplices were involved in generating funds for terrorist activities through purchase of properties on the basis of ‘forged identities’.

Mullah Mansour had purchased five properties, including plots and houses, estimated to be valued at Rs32m, in Karachi.

“An antiterrorism court has seized those properties and sold [them] for Rs44,665,000 through an auction,” the judicial and FIA sources confirmed to Dawn.

Before his death in a US drone attack in 2016, the Afghan Taliban leader had also purchased a life insurance policy from a private company using fake identity. “The court has also recovered an amount of Rs347,000 from the insurance company,” the sources added.

The FIA officials — investigating officer Rehmatullah Domki and assistant director of the counter-terrorism wing Khalid Hussain Shaikh — informed the court: “The amount recovered from the properties’ auction and insurance company has been deposited in the government treasury”.

The officials informed the court that an amount estimated to be between Rs2m to Rs2.5m had also been deposited by the Taliban leader in his accounts of two private banks, which was to be recovered.

The judge issued notices to the representatives of the two banks with direction to submit details regarding the accounts purportedly obtained and operated by the Afghan Taliban leader and/or his accomplices along with details of the money deposited/transacted through them.

The court also ordered the banks to deposit in the court the money lying in the bank accounts of the slain Afghan leader.

Properties in KP and Balochistan

The court once again repeated non-bailable warrants for the arrest of the mukhtiarkars of Peshawar and Quetta for not turning up before the court to submit their respective reports as to whether the Taliban leader and his accomplices also owned properties in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, as required under Section 88 of the criminal procedure code.

Previously, the court had ordered the authorities concerned in Peshawar and Quetta to stop salaries of the two officers (mukhtiarkars) for not submitting their reports despite the court directives.

Published in Dawn, January 9th, 2021