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Pak detains five over Times Square plot: Report

The suspects, including Salman Ashraf of 'Hanif Rajput Catering Service', were taken into custody following the May 1 Times Square terror plot, reports The Washington Post.

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Pakistan has detained a co-owner of an upscale catering company in Islamabad and at least four others in connection with the botched Times Square bombing plot for which Pakistani-American terror suspect Faisal Shahzad has been arrested in the US, a media report said in Washington today.

The suspects, including Salman Ashraf of 'Hanif Rajput Catering Service', were taken into custody following the May 1 Times Square terror plot, The Washington Post reported today.

The report came a day after Pakistan's Geo News channel said that six persons had been detained in different places in the country on suspicion of having links to Shahzad.

Citing a US embassy alert in Islamabad, the Post said Americans have been warned about the 'Hanif Rajput Catering Service' as "terrorist groups may have established links" to it.

The unusual embassy alert yesterday said the company was owned by Salman Ashraf -- who was taken into custody a few days ago -- and his father Rana Ashraf Khan, but it did not elaborate on its alleged ties to militants.

However, Rana Ashraf Khan said that he was shocked by the news of the detention of his son who had been missing for the past 12 days.

The US warning said American government personnel had been instructed to avoid patronising the caterer.

US officials had relayed information about the caterer's suspected terrorism links to Pakistani authorities "for their  action," the alert said.

Terror suspect Shahzad, 30, was arrested by the US federal authorities in New York on charges of plotting a car bombing at the Times Square on May 1. He has told investigating authorities that he was trained in Pakistan's Waziristan tribal belt.

Investigations have held the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) responsible for the attempted bombing.

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