An anti-terrorism courtroom in Pakistan has indicted three extra suspects in a automobile bomb blast exterior the 2008 Mumbai assault mastermind and JuD chief Hafiz Saeed’s home right here final yr that killed three individuals, an official stated on Thursday.
“The prosecutors of the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) of Punjab Police declared the suspects – Samiul Haq (mastermind) Aziz Akbar and Naveed Akhtar (facilitators) – guilty before the court,” a CTD official advised PTI.
He stated the suspects, who had been introduced amid tight safety, pleaded not responsible earlier than the courtroom.
The official stated the ATC Lahore directed the prosecution to current witnesses earlier than it on October 4.
In January, the ATC had sentenced 4 suspects – Eid Gul (activist of banned Tahreek-e-Taliban Pakistan), Peter Paul David, Sajjad Shah and Ziaullah – to demise on 9 counts.
The courtroom had additionally handed down 5 years imprisonment to a lady, recognized as Ayesha Bibi, in the course of the in-camera trial proceedings on the high-security Kot Lakhpat Jail right here.
The prosecution had introduced 56 witnesses in opposition to these 5 convicts.
Three individuals had been killed and over 20 others injured within the blast exterior Saeed’s Jauhar city residence right here on June 23, 2021 that additionally broken a lot of homes, retailers and autos within the space.
According to the CTD, TTP’s Eid Gul had put in explosives within the automobile used within the blast. The automobile belonged to Peter Paul David and the opposite three – Sajjad Shah, Ziaullah and Ayesha – had been facilitators.
Saeed, chief of the banned Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD) has been serving a jail sentence on the Kot Lakhpat Jail, Lahore for his conviction in terror financing circumstances. There had been unconfirmed stories that Saeed was current at his home when the blast befell.
The 71-year-old radical cleric and a UN-designated terrorist, whom the US has positioned a USD 10 million bounty on, has been convicted of 36 years imprisonment in 5 terror financing circumstances. His punishment is operating concurrently.
Saeed-led JuD is the entrance organisation for the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) which is answerable for finishing up the 2008 Mumbai assault that killed 166 individuals, together with six Americans.
The US Department of the Treasury has designated Saeed as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist. He was listed beneath the UN Security Council Resolution 1267 in December 2008.
The international terror financing watchdog Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is instrumental in pushing Pakistan to take measures in opposition to terrorists roaming freely within the nation and utilizing its territory to hold out assaults in India.
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