26/11 attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed arrested, sent to jail: Pak media

Islamabad: Mumbai terror attacks mastermind and Jamaat ud Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed was arrested on Wednesday in Gujranwala, Pakistani media has reported.

He has been sent to judicial custody and will face trial, the country’s media reported.

Pakistan has faced heat from the international world in recent times because Saeed has never been booked for 26/11 despite India’s claims. Forced to act – 11 years after the monstrous attack on Indian soil – Pakistan framed terror charges against Saeed earlier this month.

He has 23 terror cases in Pakistan. He was finally charged with terror financing and money laundering in a First Information Report filed by the Counter Terrorism Department of Pakistan's Punjab Police.

In 2017, Saeed and four of his men were detained for terror activities and kept in prison for nearly 11 months. They were released after a court refused to extend their detention.

India has for the last decade kept up pressure on Pakistan to act against terrorists. It provided detailed dossiers to Pakistan underlining Hafiz Saeed’s involvement in the Mumbai attacks in 2008 that lasted four days and killed 174 people.

In 2017, Paris-based global body the Financial Action Task Force placed Pakistan on a list of nations whose laws were too weak to combat terror financing. In October, Pakistan was warned it would face action if it did not do anything against terror funding.

The US, UK and France has also pressured Pakistan to act. On the tenth anniversary of 26/11 last year, US urged Pakistan to act soon and offered a new reward of USD 5 million for those responsible for the attacks.