Hafiz Saeed, Mumbai attack mastermind, to remain under house arrest for 90 days more

Saeed was put under house arrest on January 30 in Lahore along with his four aides. Photo: AFP (File)

NEW DELHI: Mumbai attacks mastermind Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed will remain under house arrest for 90 more days after his detention period ends on Sunday, PTI reported. The decision was taken by Pakistan’s Punjab government, a government official told the news agency. Saeed was put under house arrest on January 30 in Lahore along with his four aides. "The government has decided in principle to extend the house arrest of Hafiz Saeed, Prof Malik Zafar Iqbal, Abdur Rehman Abid, Qazi Kashif Hussain and Abdullah Ubaid for another 90 days" under preventive detention, the official said. According to reports, the step of placing Hafiz Saeed under house arrest was driven in part by the arrival of new United States administration led by Donald Trump as well as pressure from India. Pakistan detained Hafiz Saeed after pressure from India, his brother and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) leader Hafiz Masood had said. "My brother is under house arrest and he will be kept under observation by the Pakistan government," Masood was quoted by CNN-News18 news channel as saying. "All this has been done under pressure from India and the Pakistan government has given in to the pressure. They (the Indian government) want to send a message to the world, to distract attention from problems in Kashmir, to focus on Hafiz Saeed and Pakistan, so that India's misdeeds are kept hidden. India wants to create a terrorism narrative." Jamaat-ud-Dawa was rebranded under the new name of 'Tehreek Azadi Jammu and Kashmir', just days after Saeed was put under house arrest and a crackdown launched on the organisation's activities. JuD is the front for the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terror outfit which is responsible for numerous terror attacks in India, including the Mumbai terror strike of November 26,2008, which was masterminded by Saeed. JuD has already been declared as a foreign terrorist organisation by the United States in June 2014. Saeed also carries a reward of USD 10 million announced by the US for his role in terror activities.