ATC indicts Hafiz Saeed in illegal funds case

Anti-terrorist court has indicted Jamat ut Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed in a second case on charges of financing terrorism, here on Friday.

According to the Reuters, Saeed has been indicted in case filed by counter terrorism department Gujranwala – chapter.

He was also indicted on similar charges in another case on Dec 11, was presented in an anti-terrorism court in Pakistan’s eastern city of Lahore.

Defence lawyer Imran Gill said the second case was related to Saeed’s charity operations. “The charities the accused ran collected illegal funds,” Watto said.

Saeed is the founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), or the Army of the Pure, allegedly  militant group blamed by the United States and India for the four-day Mumbai siege in which 160 people were killed. Foreigners, including Americans, were among the dead.

CTD arrested Hafiz Saeed in July, days before a visit to Washington by Prime Minister Imran Khan.

It is pertinent to mention that the indictments came ahead of a meeting of world financial watchdog Financial Action Task Force (FATF) early next year that will decide whether to blacklist Pakistan for its failure to curb terror financing.

Also remember that the United States has offered a reward of $10 million for information leading to the conviction of Hafiz Saeed, who has been arrested and released several times over the past decade.

Washington has long pressured Pakistan to try Saeed, who is designated a terrorist by the United States and the United Nations.

Meanwhile Hafiz Saeed has denied any involvement in the Mumbai attacks and says his network, which spans 300 seminaries and schools, hospitals, a publishing house and ambulance services, has no ties to militant groups.