Pak judicial body orders release of 26/11 Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed

NEW DELHI: Days before the anniversary of the

26/11 attack

, a judicial body in Pakistan on Wednesday ordered the release of Mumbai terror attack mastermind and

Jamaat-ud-Dawah

chief Hafiz Saeed from house arrest, PTI has reported.

A judicial review board, comprising judges of the Lahore High Court, rejected a request from the government of Pakistan's Punjab, to extend Saeed's detention by three months.

"The government is ordered to release JuD chief Hafiz Saeed if he is not wanted in any other case," PTI quoted the board as saying.

The board rejected the plea to extend his detention on the grounds of insufficient evidence, reported Pakistani newspaper Dawn.

Saeed may walk free in a couple of days if the government does not detain him in any other case.

According to a source in the Punjab government, the government is considering detaining him in another case.

"The government cannot afford to set Saeed free in the current circumstance. It cannot face international backlash in the event of releasing the JuD chief," the official source told PTI.

On Tuesday, the province's home department had informed the judicial body that Saeed's release could lead to imposition of international sanctions on Pakistan.

It also said that the Federal Finance Ministry had "some important evidence" against him to justify detention.

Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam called the move "befooling."

"This is again befooling by Pakistan. Now, America should notice this matter since it designated Hafiz Saeed as global terrorist," Nikam told Times Now.

Last month, the board had allowed a 30-day extension to his detention, which is set to expire in the last week of this month.

On January 31, Saeed and his four aides - Abdullah Ubaid, Malik Zafar Iqbal, Abdul Rehman Abid and Qazi Kashif Hussain - were detained by the Punjab government for 90 days under the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997 and the Fourth Schedule of Anti-Terrorism Act 1997.

The last two extensions, however, were made under the 'public safety' law.

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Saeed's four aides were set free last month, after the board refused further extension.

The government can detain a person for up to three months under different charges but requires the approval of a judicial review board to extend detention.

The US had announced a $10 million bounty for Saaed for his alleged role in the Mumbai terror attack. The JuD is believed to be the front for the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba, which was responsible for the 26/11 attack.

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