Latest Pakistani media reports indicate that Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed has been arrested and sent to judicial custody.
A leading Pakistan daily reported that, Saeed was arrested when travelling from Lahore to Gujranwala.
Punjab Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) had registered 23 cases against Saeed and 12 of his aides for using five trusts to channel funds to terror suspects.
Saeed’s arrest comes at a time when the Imran Khan government is under pressure from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to act against terror outfits and terrorists operating out of the country.
According to the CTD, the funds collected by Saeed and his accomplices through these trusts were used to finance the Lashkar-e-Taiba, which is responsible for terror strikes, including the 2008 Mumbai attack in India. The attack claimed lives of more than 165 people in Mumbai when ten Lashkar-e-Taiba militia opened fire at multiple locations in the city.
Saeed is a UN-designated a global terrorist and is the founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba. The US has announced a bounty of $10 million for providing evidence leading to his conviction. Pakistan media has reported severally that Pakistan authorities have freed Saeed several times earlier after arresting him.
