Pak court orders release of Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed

Islamabad/New Delhi: Pakistan’s Lahore high court on Wednesday ordered the release of Jamaat ud Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Mohammed Saeed who is accused by India of masterminding the 26/11 that killed 166 people in 2008. He could walk free as early as Thursday.

Saeed heads the JuD, which poses as a charity but is a front for the terror group Lashkar-e-Tayabba (LeT), which carried out the Mumbai attacks.

Saeed was put under house arrest in January this year after years of living freely — addressing rallies and gatherings across Pakistan — one of the sore points in the country’s fraying relationship with the United States.

The US had announced a $10 million bounty on Saeed in 2012 for his alleged role in the 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed six US nationals.

There has been speculation that his house arrest in January was due to fears that the new Trump administration would act tough against states harbouring terrorists.

India has been pushing the US to pressurise Pakistan to ban the JuD and hand over Saeed to New Delhi.

Though on Wednesday New Delhi did not officially react to Saeed’s possible release from house arrest, his freedom is bound to infuriate India.

The Punjab provincial government had asked for a three-month extension of Saeed’s detention but the request was turned down by the court.

During a hearing by the judicial review board on Tuesday, the Punjab government had said Pakistan might face sanctions from the international community if the JuD chief is released. The board comprises judges of the Lahore high court.

The JuD chief, through his lawyer A.K. Dogar advocate, had challenged his detention orders.

“The review board of the Lahore high court asked the Punjab government to produce evidence against Hafiz Saeed for keeping him detained but the government failed,” Mr Dogar said.

“The government is ordered to release JuD chief Hafiz Saeed if he is not wanted in any other case,” the judicial review board said.