DHAKA: The leader of a banned Pakistani sectarian militant group who was set to walk free from jail is being held for two more weeks in a murder case.

Officials said on Thursday, reports The Straits Times.

Malik Ishaq, the head of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) which is dedicated to killing minority Shiite Muslims, was to be released on Thursday after the Punjab provincial government withdrew a request to extend his detention under public order laws.

But he has now been detained in a murder case, a police official said, and is being held in the central city of Multan.

The news of Ishaq comes with the country ramping up its anti-terror strategy after an attack on an army-run school this month killed 150 people, spurring the country to set up military courts and drop its moratorium on capital punishment in terror cases.

BDST: 1710 HRS, DEC 25, 2014