Pakistani authorities have conducted raids in some cities of Punjab province and arrested several suspects in connection with the attack on an Indian air base in Pathankot last month, a media report said.

"The raids were conducted in Sialkot, Gujranwala, Jhelum and Dina cities in Punjab province during the last two days, and some suspects were arrested," an unnamed Interior Ministry official was quoted as saying by the BBC Urdu.

They have been shifted to an undisclosed location for interrogation, the official added. Pakistan has also started investigations regarding the telephone numbers provided by India and used in planning the attacks on the Pathankot airbase. The authorities are looking for those involved directly in the attacks or the facilitators of the attackers, the BBC said. Special teams comprising police and other law-enforcers are conducting raids across the country, especially in central Punjab cities. "It is suspected that the arrested people have been in contact with the alleged extremists in the near past," the official said, adding that these people went underground when news stories were run by the media after the attacks. He said these suspects had stopped the use of their mobile numbers (SIMs) and because of this locating them had become very difficult. He, however, said those points are being searched for the suspects where they had last used the said mobile numbers.