Hafiz Saeed arrested in terror financing case, sent to prison: Pakistani media

Jamaat-ud-Dawa founder Hafiz Saeed was arrested and sent to judicial custody in Lahore, Pakistani media reported on Wednesday. According to Geo News, “Hafiz Saeed was travelling from Lahore to Gujranwala when the arrest took place.” Pakistan’s Counter Terrorism Department arrested the Mumbai attack main accused days after he was granted bail. 

However, on July 15, the Mumbai terror attack mastermind and his three aides were granted pre-arrest bail by an anti-terrorism court in Pakistan, which stopped police from arresting them till August 3 in a land grabbing case for a seminary.

Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC), Lahore, Judge Javed Iqbal Warriach granted pre-arrest bail to Saeed and his three aides - Hafiz Masood, Ameer Hamza, and Malik Zafar - until August 3 against the surety bonds of Rs 50,000 each.

During the hearing, the lawyer the accused said the JuD was not using any piece of land illegally and urged the court to accept bail pleas. In February, Paris-based international terror financing watchdog FATF decided to continue the 'Grey' listing of Pakistan for its failure to stop funding of terrorist groups such as the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and the JuD.

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In March, Saeed was barred by the government from delivering weekly Friday sermon at Jamia Masjid Qadsia, the JuD headquarters in Lahore. Saeed was never stopped from delivering Friday sermons even during the years when Masjid Qadsia's control was under the Punjab government.

The JuD is believed to be the front organisation for the LeT which is responsible for carrying out the Mumbai attacks. It had been declared as a foreign terrorist organisation by the US in June 2014.

The US Department of the Treasury has designated Saeed as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, and the US, since 2012, has offered a $10 million reward for information that brings him to justice.