The United Nations has updated information revealing that Hafiz Saeed, the mastermind behind the Mumbai terror attack and chief of the outlawed Jamat-ud-Dawah, is currently in the custody of Pakistan. Saeed is serving a substantial 78-year imprisonment sentence following his conviction in seven terror financing cases, as stated by the UN’s Sanctions Committee.
In response to India’s extradition request in December, Saeed, a UN-proscribed terrorist, is sought by Indian probe agencies in various terror cases. Designated as a global terrorist by the UN Security Council’s 1267 Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee in December 2008, Saeed’s amended entry confirms his custody and the lengthy imprisonment since February 12, 2020.
Recent amendments by the Security Council Committee to the ISIL (Daesh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions List included updates to certain entries. Additionally, the Committee noted the confirmed demise of Hafiz Abdul Salam Bhuttavi, a founding member of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Saeed’s deputy. Bhuttavi, an UN-designated terrorist linked to the 2008 Mumbai terror attack, passed away in prison in May last year, while serving a sentence for terror financing in Pakistan’s Punjab province.