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31-12-2023
Bureau Report + Agencies
NEW DELHI/ ISLAMABAD: India has formally requested that Pakistan extradite the 2008 Mumbai attacks suspect Hafiz Saeed for trial in India, according to New Delhi’s Ministry of External Affairs.
“We have conveyed a request along with relevant supporting documents to the government of Pakistan,” ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi told reporters in a briefing on Friday.
Bagchi said the last communication was sent to Pakistan “a few weeks ago”, local media reported.
Saeed, who is currently in custody in Pakistan, co-founded the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) armed group. He is accused by India and the United States of being involved in the attacks on India’s financial hub, which killed 166 people.
India has long been asking its neighbor to hand Saeed over to face trial in the case.
Saeed denies any involvement in the 2008 attacks, in which 10 gunmen slipped into Mumbai by boat from Pakistan. The gunmen carried out attacks at city landmarks for days.
Pakistani authorities placed him under house arrest for different periods, accusing him of involvement in armed groups. Saeed was jailed on April 9, 2002, by a Pakistani court for 31 years in connection with “terrorism” financing.
Saeed’s Jamaat-ud-Dawa group has also been banned by the Pakistani government. The organization, which has been accused of funding armed groups, was declared a “terror” outfit by the US in 2001.
The United States had offered a reward of $10m for information leading to his conviction.
India hanged the lone survivor of the 2008 attack, Pakistan national Mohammad Ajmal Kasab, in 2012.
LeT has been accused of using Pakistani soil to attack Indian security and government targets in Indian-administered Kashmir.
Pakistan and India both claim the mountainous territory of Kashmir in full but administer separate portions of it.
They have fought two of their three full-fledged wars over the territory. India has also accused Pakistan of supporting armed groups like LeT and Jaish-e-Muhammad that operate in Indian-administered Kashmir.
Pakistan denies the charges, saying it has been acting against all armed groups operating on its soil. Islamabad backs Kashmiri’s right to self-determination against Indian rule.
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