'Pakistan is fooling the world': 26/11 special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam calls out Hafiz Saeed's arrest
Pakistan called out by senior lawyer.
Pakistan on Wednesday arrested 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed while he was on his way to Gujranwala from Lahore. He has been sent to jail on judicial remand. He was arrested by Pakistan's Punjab province's Counter-Terrorism Department. Hafiz Saeed is the head of terrorist organisation Lashkar-e- Taiba. It continues to work under the cover of Jamaat-ud-Dawa, which claims to be a charitable organisation but is involved in pulling funds for terror activities.
A spokesman for Punjab Governor Shahbaz Gill said Saeed was arrested near the town of Gujranwala in central Pakistan. "The main charge is that he is gathering funds for banned outfits, which is illegal," the spokesman said.The arrest of Saeed comes days before Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan visits US on a bilateral visit. This is not for the first time he has been arrested. The last time when he was arrested, the Pakistani courts had released him due to lack of evidence.
Reacting to Hafiz Saeed's arrest, special public prosecutor in the 26/11 case, eminent lawyer Ujjawal Nikam said that Pakistan has to walk the talk on this issue.
He told ANI, " Pakistan is fooling the world that they have arrested him, we have to see how they produce evidence in courts and how efforts are made to convict him, otherwise it is a drama."
Experts see Saeed's arrest as Pakistan as acting under Financial Action Task Force or FATF's pressure who decided to keep Islamabad on greylist after missing 2 deadlines to meet its anti-terror financing commitments.
Earlier in a land-grabbing case, Pakistan court had granted relief to Hafiz Saeed from being arrested till August 3. But Saeed has been arrested on terror financing case now.
With Wion and agency inputs