Hafiz Saeed and his two aides – Zafar Iqbal and Yahya Mujahid – have been sentenced to 10-and-a-half years each, while his brother-in-law Abdul Rehman Makki has been sentenced to six-month imprisonment.
Hafiz Saeed. (File Photo: IANS)
After nearly 12 years since the horrific 26/11 Mumbai terror attack unfolded, the prime accused Hafiz Saeed has been sentenced to 10 years in two terror cases by a court in Pakistan, news agency PTI reported.
This was not the first time that chief of the Jamaat-ud-Dawa, a front organisation for the terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), was sentenced in a terror case by a Pakistani court.
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“The anti-terrorism court of Lahore on Thursday sentenced four leaders of Jamat-ud-Dawa, including its chief Hafiz Saeed, in two more cases,” PTI quoted a court official as saying.
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As per the reports, Hafiz Saeed and his two aides – Zafar Iqbal and Yahya Mujahid – have been sentenced to 10-and-a-half years each, while his brother-in-law Abdul Rehman Makki has been sentenced to six-month imprisonment.
Earlier in February, Hafiz Saeed along with some of his aides were convicted and sentenced to 11 years in a terror-financing case.
Reacting on the Pakistan’s move back then, India had asked its neighbor to act on all terrorist leaders and groups operating there and ensure that they are arrested.
“We have seen media reports that a court in Pakistan has sentenced UN-designated and internationally proscribed terrorist Hafiz Saeed in terror financing case. It is part of a long pending international obligation of Pakistan to put an end to support for terrorism,” government sources said.
Outlawed Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed, a UN designated terrorist and founder of the LeT, was the mastermind of the Mumbai terror attack. The US Department of the Treasury has designated Saeed as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist. The US has also offered a USD 10 million reward for information that brings Saeed to justice.
Pakistan had been reluctant to take any concrete action against Saeed. It has also faced strict scrutiny and serious warnings from FATF (Financial Action Task Force) for its lack of action to curb terror financing by pro-terror groups and individuals.
The anti-terror financing body had, in October last year, warned Pakistan of strong action if it fails to take measures on terror financing and money laundering by February 2020.
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