Pak’s judicial body orders release of Hafiz Saeed

A Judicial Review Board of Pakistan’s Punjab province today ordered the release of Mumbai attack mastermind and banned Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed, who has been under house arrest since January. Rejecting the government’s plea to extend his detention for another three months, the board ordered Saeed’s release. The government is ordered to release JuD chief Hafiz Saeed if he is not wanted in any other case,” the board said. Last month, the board had allowed a 30-day extension to the detention of Saeed which will expire next week. The board’s order paves the way for Saeed’s release. On January 31, Saeed and his four aides – Abdullah Ubaid, Malik Zafar Iqbal, Abdul Rehman Abid and Qazi Kashif Hussain – were detained by the Punjab government for 90 days under the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997 and the Fourth Schedule of Anti- Terrorism Act 1997. Saeed’s four aides were set free in the last week of October. The US has offered a USD 10 million bounty for Saaed. The JuD is believed to be the front organisation for the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) which is responsible for carrying out the 2008 Mumbai attack.