LAHORE, Pakistan: Pakistan authorities on Wednesday arrested Hafiz Saeed, the mastermind of a four-day militant attack on the Indian city of Mumbai in 2008, on terror finance charges, a spokesman for the chief minister of Punjab province said.
The arrest ‘coincidentally’ came days before a visit to Washington by Prime Minister Imran Khan, who has vowed to crack down on militant groups operating in Pakistan. The Imran Khan government has been under pressure from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to act against terror outfits and terrorists operating out of Pakistan.
Saeed, designated a terrorist by the United States and the United Nations, is the founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), or Army of the Pure, the militant group that carried out Mumbai attacks, which killed more than 160 people.
A spokesman for Punjab Governor Shahbaz Gill said Saeed was arrested near the town of Gujranwala in central Pakistan. He has been sent to judicial custody. Hafiz Saeed is facing 23 terror-related cases in Pakistan.
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