India has sought extradition of Hafiz Saeed, the founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and mastermind of 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. India placed the extradition request to neighboring country Pakistan. Hafiz Saaed has been in Pakistan jail since 2019 after being convicted for several years in multiple terror finance cases along with some other leaders of the banned Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD).
Hafiz Saeed has been arrested and released several times over the past decade and denies involvement with armed operations. Hafiz Saeed-led JuD is the front organisation for the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), which is allegedly responsible for carrying out the 26/11 Mumbai attack in 2008 that killed 166 people, including six Americans.
The LeT terrorist group had remained active for years in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, which is split between India and Pakistan.
According to an India Today report citing people familiar with the development in the India government, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has sent a formal extradition request of terrorist Hafiz Saeed, to Pakistan.
The report also said that India’s Ministry of External Affairs urged the Pakistan government to initiate the legal process for Hafiz Saeed‘s extradition.
Notably, India has repeatedly demanded Hafiz Saeed’s extradition from Pakistan, to face trial for the Mumbai attacks, but the absence of an extradition treaty between India and Pakistan complicates the process.
In April 2022, a Pakistani court sentenced Hafiz Saeed to 31 years in prison in two cases of terrorism financing.
Saeed was found guilty of multiple breaches in the two cases, but it was not immediately clear how much jail time it would entail given his current incarceration and the sentences’ running concurrently, reported Al Jazeera.
Under Pakistani law, unless a sentence is thrown out or reduced on appeal, Saeed will have to serve them consecutively.
Hafiz Saeed has been listed as one of India’s most wanted terrorists and carries a $10 million bounty placed by the US for his alleged involvement in the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
Meanwhile, a new political front organisation of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed has fielded candidates for most of the national and provincial assembly constituencies across Pakistan for the February 8 general elections, saying it wants to make the country an Islamic welfare state.