This photograph taken on July 22, 2010 shows Dr Shakeel Afridi attending a Malaria control campaign in the Khyber tribal region. — Photo by AFP

PESHAWAR: The law enforcement agencies Saturday evening seized a 'Thoraya' satellite phone form Dr Shakeel Afridi, a surgeon allegedly recruited by the US intelligence to help find Osama bin Laden, in Central Jail Peshawar and have arrested four police commandos on guard at Dr Shakeel Afridi’s cell in the jail, official sources said.

The official intelligence sources said that the authorities have arrested four police commandos who were on duty; After interrogating, one of them, confessed that he had provided satellite phone to Dr Shakeel Afridi.

The sources said that Dr Shakeel Afrid had made more than 68 calls from the satellite phone set and most of these calls were long-distanced calls, but the authorities are assessing the satellite phone data to ascertain the country location.

To a query, the sources said that after a controversial interview with Fox News, a US-based news channel, a few weeks back, the authorities had installed special equipment around Central Jail Peshawar to check Dr Afridi’s activities and had traced some calls from his jail cell, following which the authorities conducted investigation with the four policemen. One of the policemen, the sources said, admitted of his involvement in providing Dr Afridi the satellite phone.

The sources said that it’s likely that the interview might have been conducted through the satellite phone but the authorities are assessing the facts.

The jail authorities, on contact, did not give any detail about the incident.