26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed sent to 7-day judicial custody

26/11

The 2008 Mumbai attacks mastermind and UN-proscribed Jamaat ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed on Wednesday was sent to seven-day judicial custody following his arrest on terror financing charges.

Speaking to ARY News, spokesperson of the Chief Minister of Pakistan's Punjab province Shahbaz Gill said that Hafiz's arrest was made under the ongoing National Action Plan (NAP).

The spokesperson refused to share any further details in this regard. Saeed was arrested while he was on his way to an anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Gujranwala to seek bail.

The development has come just two days after an anti-terrorism court in Lahore had granted interim bail to Saeed and three of his aides until August 31 against surety bonds of PKR 50,000 each.

On July 3, the top 13 leaders of the banned JuD, including Saeed and Naib Emir Abdul Rehman Makki, were booked in nearly two dozen cases for terror financing and money laundering under the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997.

The CTD, which registered the cases in five cities of Punjab, had stated that JuD was involved in terror funding collected through charitable organizations including Al-Anfaal Trust, Dawatul Irshad Trust, and Muaz Bin Jabal Trust.

In February, the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF) had warned Pakistan to deliver on its commitment to curb terror financing and money laundering.

Pakistan may be blacklisted by the watchdog as it is already on the "grey list" of countries who have been inadequate in curbing money laundering and terror financing. In the wake of previous warnings by the FATF, Pakistan had re-instated a ban on two terror outfits linked to Saeed, namely, JuD and the Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation in February.

The move had come amid global pressure against Pakistan to clamp down on terror groups following the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) initiated terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district that killed 40 paramilitary forces in February this year.

India has time and again called for creating trust and environment free of violence and terrorism for fostering peace and prosperity in the region.

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