Headlines
Pakistan court orders release of 26/11 mastermind Lakhvi
Islamabad, April 9
A court in Pakistan on
Thursday ordered the immediate release of 26/11 Mumbai terror attack's
alleged mastermind Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi.
The Lahore High Court
(LHC) dismissed the detention orders of Lakhvi, one of the key accused
in the terror siege and ordered his immediate release, Dawn online
reported.
The court was hearing a petition of Lakhvi challenging
his fourth one-month detention ordered by the Punjab government last
month.
The Punjab government had previously maintained the stance
that Lakhvi has been detained based on "sensitive information" provided
by intelligence agencies.
Justice Anwarul Haq directed the
government's counsel to submit records of the information to the court,
which was also presented in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) in the past
based on which the Islamabad High Court ordered Lakhvi's bail.
The
court upheld the stance that if this sensitive information was
reliable, the Islamabad High Court would not have accepted Lakhvi's
bail.
Therefore, the Lahore High Court ordered Lakhvi's release
based on the lack of reliability of the sensitive information provided
and directed Lakhvi to pay Pakistani Rs.20 lakh ($1,962) in surety bonds
to Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi where he is lodged.
Lakhvi is among
the seven people charged with planning and helping carry out the 2008
Mumbai attacks that left 166 people dead. The six other men facing trial
in Adiala Jail for their alleged involvement in the attacks are Hammad
Amin Sadiq, Shahid Jamil Riaz, Younas Anjum, Jamil Ahmed, Mazhar Iqbal
and Abdul Majid.
At the time of the attacks, Lakhvi was believed
to be the operational head of the banned Laskhar-e-Taiba (LeT). Lashar
has been accused by India of carrying out the attacks in the country's
financial capital.