A Pakistani anti-terrorism court has handed down 15 years jail term to Yahya Mujahid, spokesperson of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed’s Jammat-ud-Dawah (JuD), in a terror-financing case.
Mujahid was in November sentenced to 32 years in jail by the anti-terrorism court in two terror financing cases. Besides Mujahid, the ATC Lahore on Wednesday also awarded 15 years imprisonment to JuD’s senior leader Zafar Iqbal and six months jail term to Prof Hafiz Abdul Rehman Makki, brother-in-law of JuD chief Hafiz Saeed.
Earlier, the ATC Lahore had sentenced Iqbal for 26 years imprisonment in three such cases. ATC Judge Ijaz Ahmad Buttar announced the verdict in FIR 42 of 2019 under different provisions of the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997. The three convicts were present in the court when the judge announced the verdict.
The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) of Punjab police had registered as many as 41 FIRs against JuD leaders, including Saeed in different cities. The trial courts have so far decided 25 cases. The ATC has sentenced Saeed for collective imprisonment of 21 years on terror financing charges under sections 11-N of Anti-Terrorism Act 1997 in four cases so far.
Saeed-led JuD is the front organisation for the Lashkar-e-Taiba which is responsible for carrying out the 2008 Mumbai attack that killed 166 people, including six Americans.
The US named Saeed as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, and the country, since 2012, has offered a USD 10 million bounty on Saeed.
