26/11 Mastermind Hafiz Saeed In Pakistan Prison Serving 78-Year Jail Sentence: UNSC
The United Nations has confirmed that Mumbai Terror attack mastermind and outlawed Jamat-ud-Dawah chief Hafiz Saeed is now currently serving a 78-year imprisonment in Pakistan.
Saeed, who is designated as global terrorist by the United Security Council, is now facing conviction in seven terror financing cases. It is said that he has been serving his sentence from February 12, 2020.
Hafiz Saeed is the leader and chief of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). He also played a key role in LeT’s operational and fundraising activities.
Recently, the United Nations Security Council 1267 Committee updated its ISIL (Da’esh) and al-Qaeda sanctions unit. This list included the names of individuals and entities subjected to assets, freeze, travel ban, and arms embargo.
In December 2023, the Indian government has asked its neighbouring country Pakistan to extradite Hafiz Saeed as he is wanted by the Indian investigative agencies in connection with several terror cases, according to Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign affairs spokesperson, Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, says economic times.
But Pakistan denied saying that there is no bilateral extradition treaty existing between India and Pakistan.
As part of the report, Hafiz Saeed is “in (the) custody of the Government of Pakistan, serving a 78-year imprisonment sentence since 12 February 2020 as a result of conviction in seven terror financing cases,” the Sanctions Committee said in an amended entry.
This detail comes as part of the broader transparency efforts by the UN in tracking and disclosing the information about internationally recognised terrorist.
Under the amendments, the Sanction committee also noted that the close associate of Saeed, Hafiz Abdul Salam Bhuttavi, founding member of Lashkar-e-Taiba and Saeed’s deputy, is “confirmed deceased”.
Bhuttavi, who played a crucial role in training the LeT attackers for 26/11 terror attack, passed away in prison in May last year. He was sentenced for his involvement in terror financing.
