Khakan Babar, recently appointed by the government of Pakistan's Punjab province as the Chief Administrator, took over the JuD's Markaz-e-Taiba headquarters at Muridke, about 30 kms from Lahore.

The process was completed in the presence of Lahore's Commissioner, the district police chief, an official of the Auqaf or religious affairs department and a police contingent.

Babar will supervise and monitor all activities at the JuD's headquarters, Dawn News channel reported.

Babar, his eight-member staff and about a dozen policemen will be housed in the Markaz-e-Taiba complex that includes a school, a college and a hospital.

A spokesman for the Markaz-e-Taiba described the appointment of the administrator as a ‘takeover’ done under international pressure.

Pakistan's Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik has said the JuD was banned shortly after the UN Security Council declared it a front for the LeT in December 2008.

However, diplomatic sources said that the Pakistan government had not yet issued any formal notification banning the group.

JuD chief Hafiz Mohammed Saeed and several other top leaders of the group are currently under house arrest. Their detention was recently extended for two more months.

But, there have been reports that Saeed and other JuD leaders were allowed to move out of their homes on several occasions.

The Pakistan government has claimed that a total of 124 members of the JuD and other banned extremist groups have been detained while dozens of JuD offices have been sealed across the country.