Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi restrained in jail due to Centre's efforts: BJP

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday said that Pakistani authorities were restraining 26/11 Mumbai attack mastermind Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi in jail due to the efforts of a strong Central Government in India.

"We learnt a day ago that Lakhvi was to be released due to a court order in Pakistan. The Indian Government, the MEA in fact called for the Pakistani envoy Abdul Basit and had a strong message conveyed to Pakistan through Basit that India is absolutely upset and India is not going to take this and if Lakhvi was released then it would affect Indo-Pak relations and because of this strong message we get the news that Pakistan is restraining Lakhvi in jail," BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said.

India had on Friday conveyed its outrage over Lakhvi's release orders by the Islamabad High Court, saying that if released, the designated international terrorist would pose a threat that cannot be ignored. "This goes against Pakistan's professed commitment to combat terrorism, including its recently stated policy of not differentiating amongst terrorists," Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said.

The Islamabad High Court had on Friday declared Lakhvi's detention as 'illegal' and ordered his release, which led to the summoning of Pakistan High Commissioner to India Abdul Basit by Indian authorities.