Hafiz Saeed, the chief of banned Jammat-ud-Dawah (JuD) and the 2008 Mumbai terror attack mastermind, was on Wednesday accused by a Pakistani anti-terrorism court on terror financing charges.
Anti-Terrorism Court judge Malik Arshad Bhutta charged Hafiz Saeed along with his accomplices with terror financing in different cities of Punjab.
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On Saturday, the court had delayed the charges due to the unavailability of one of the suspects registered by the Counter-terrorism Department (CTD) on charges of terror financing.
The Counter-terrorism Department of the Punjab Police on July 17 registered 23 FIRs against the mastermind and his accomplices on the charges of terror financing in different cities of Punjab and arrested the Jammat-ud-Dawah (JuD) chief.
He is currently detained at the Lahore Central Jail which is also called Kot Lakhpat jail.
The cases have been registered in Lahore, Gujranwala and Multan cities of Punjab for collection of funds through assets/properties made and held in the names of Trusts/Non Profit Organisations (NPO) including Al-Anfaal Trust, Dawatul Irshad Trust and Muaz Bin Jabal Trust.
Pakistan launched investigations into matters of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), JuD and its charity wing Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation (FIF) for their holding and use of trusts to raise funds for terrorism financing after authorities received pressure from international organisations.
Hafiz Saeed led Jammat-ud-Dawah, the banned front organisation for the Lashkar-e-Taiba was responsible for carrying out the 2008 Mumbai attack that killed 166 people.
(With Agency Inputs)