26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed was today sentenced to jail for 31 years by an anti-terror court in Pakistan.
Hafiz Saeed, the founder of the terror group Lashkar e Taiba and the chief of Jamaat ud Dawa, was sentenced in two cases.
The court also ordered all his assets be seized and fined the UN-designated terrorist Rs 3,40,000. Reports suggest a mosque and madrassa that Hafiz Saeed allegedly built will be taken over.
The 70-year-old has already been convicted in five such cases and sent to 36 years imprisonment. The total sentence of 68 years imprisonment will run concurrently.
The JuD chief is presently lodged at Lahore’s high-security Kot Lakhpat jail.
Though the reason behind Saeed’s sentencing is said to be the FATF pressure, where Pakistan continues to be in the grey list, many experts speculate that given the precedents in Pakistan, Saeed may even walk free soon or continue to enjoy a lavish life.
Though Saeed has been sentenced by courts earlier, he had been living a lavish life, under the security provided by the Pakistani government. In 2020, a video had surfaced where Saeed, who was supposed to be in jail, was seen travelling with a large convoy of SUVs with Pakistani rangers protecting him.
Last month, India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) court has ordered the filing of charges against Hafiz Saeed, the founder of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), and Syed Salahuddin, the chief of the Hizbul Mujahideen, as well as Kashmiri separatist leaders Yasin Malik, Shabbir Shah, Masarat Alam, and others, under various sections of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) in a case involving terrorist and secessionist activities.
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(With inputs from agencies)
