Hafiz Saeed faces 23 terrorist cases in Pakistan. (Reuters)
Islamabad:
26/11 Mastermind Hafiz Saeed was reportedly convicted by a Pakistani court of terrorist financing and jailed for five years.
Hafiz Saeed, the founder of the terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba and head of Jamaat-ud-Dawa, has been convicted of terrorist financing in two cases, reports the PTI news agency. An anti-terrorist court sentenced him to five and a half years and fined 15,000 rupees each. In both cases, the prison terms run simultaneously.
Hafiz Saeed was found guilty of "being part of a prohibited terrorist outfit" and "having illegal property," his lawyer Imran Gill told AFP.
Hafiz Saeed was banned by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) after the Mumbai attacks of November 26, 2008, in which 166 people were killed.
In Pakistan, he faces 23 terrorist cases. Despite India's dossier on terrorist cases against him, he was allowed to walk around Pakistan with impunity and tackle rallies against India.
Pakistan had filed terrorist attacks against Hafiz Saeed after continued international pressure. In a first informational report by the Counter-Terrorism Department of the Pakistani Punjab Police, he was charged with multiple crimes related to terrorist financing and money laundering.
In 2017, Hafiz Saeed and his four helpers were arrested by the Pakistani government under terrorist laws. However, they were released after almost eleven months when the Punjab Judicial Review Board refused to extend their detention.
