Lahore, November 22 (newsin.asia): A Pakistani High Court on Wednesday ordered the release of Jamaat-ud- Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed who, India and the US say ,is responsible for the serial blasts in Mumbai on November 26, 2008.
The UN and US-designated terrorist, and on whom the US had put a prize of US$ 10 million, was set free by the Lahore High Court on the grounds that the Punjab Provincial government, which had placed him under house arrest since January, had failed to provide any evidence to support its contention that Saeed is a terrorist.
The Punjab government had asked for an extension to Saeed’s detention but the request was turned down by the court, prosecutor Sattar Sahil told Reuters.
India has been accusing Saeed of directing terrorist attacks against it ,particularly the serial blasts in Mumbai on November 26, 2008.
In February this year, the Indian government said that all evidence about the alleged involvement of Hafiz Saeed was with Pakistan.
“The entire conspiracy in the Mumbai terror attack case was hatched in Pakistan. All the terrorists came from Pakistan. All the planning was done in Pakistan. All the support was rendered from Pakistan. So all the evidence to implicate the mastermind of the Mumbai terror attack is available in Pakistan. So the so-called concrete evidence that the Pakistani authorities are seeking is already available in Pakistan. All they need to find is the requisite political will,” said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup.
Reacting to India’s initial comments on conducting a “credible crackdown” on Saeed, the Pakistani Interior Ministry asked India to come up with “concrete evidence” against him which could be proved in the courts.
According to www.counterterrorism.com Pakistan has long allowed LeT members to operate within the country. However, since 2006, the Pakistani government has subjected Saeed to a series of house arrests and trials relating to a variety of criminal- and terrorism-related charges, including his alleged involvement in the Mumbai attacks, the portal said.
Saeed was placed under house arrest in September 2009, but was cleared of all charges one month later, allowing him to move freely in Pakistan until authorities reinstated his house arrest in January 2017.
Prior to January 2017, Saeed was featured in a number of interviews in Western and Pakistani media. In those interviews, he focused attention on his charitable work. Under Saeed’s leadership, LeT has partnered with aid organizations in Gaza.
Following Saeed’s January 2017 arrest, his charity, JuD, rebranded itself as Tehreek Azadi Jammu and Kashmir (TAJK), the portal said.
(The featured image at the top is that of Hafiz Saeed)
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