The US and India accuse Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi of main an armed group chargeable for the 2008 Mumbai assaults.
Pakistan has arrested Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, a pacesetter of armed group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) – blamed by the US and India for the 2008 Mumbai assaults, a counterterrorism official mentioned.
The arrest is in relation to “terrorism financing”, the official mentioned on Saturday, and never a particular assault.
“Proscribed organisation LeT chief Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi [has been] arrested on expenses of terrorism financing,” a spokesman for the Counter-Terrorism Division (CTD) of Pakistan’s Punjab province mentioned.
The suspect is alleged to have been operating a medical dispensary to gather and disburse funds for “terrorism”, the spokesman mentioned.
A sanctions committee of the United Nations Safety Council says Lakhvi is LeT’s chief of operations and accuses him of being energetic in numerous different areas and international locations, together with Chechnya, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Indian authorities mentioned the lone surviving attacker concerned within the 2008 Mumbai siege, wherein 166 folks have been killed, had advised interrogators earlier than his execution that the assailants have been in contact with Lakhvi.
India has lengthy referred to as on Pakistan to carry Lakhvi to trial, however Islamabad says New Delhi has not offered concrete proof to attempt the LeT chief. He was first arrested in 2008 however was later launched on bail.
Imran Gill, Lakhvi’s lawyer, confirmed the arrest and advised Reuters information company his case could be heard subsequent week. He didn’t reply to additional questions.
One other man that India says was the mastermind of the Mumbai siege, Hafiz Saeed, was convicted by a Pakistani courtroom on two expenses of “terrorism financing” final 12 months. Saeed denies involvement within the Mumbai assaults.
Saeed was additionally designated a terrorist by the US Justice Division and carries a $10m reward on his head.
Relations between Pakistan and India have been strained after the assault on India’s monetary hub in November 2008. The rival South Asian powers have fought two wars since gaining independence from Britain in 1947.