The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) of Punjab Police on Saturday arrested Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, a leader of the proscribed Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militant group, on terrorism financing charge, an official said.
The arrest was made in relation to terrorism financing, spokesman for CTD clarified, and not for a “specific militant attack”.
“Proscribed organisation LeT (Lashkar-e-Taiba) leader Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi (has been) arrested on charges of terrorism financing,” he said.
The suspect is said to have been running a medical dispensary to collect and disburse funds for militant activities, the spokesman added.
A UN Security Council sanctions committee considers Lakhvi as LeT’s chief of operations and accuses him of being involved in militant activity in a number of other regions and countries, including India, Chechnya, Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Imran Gill, Lakhvi’s lawyer, confirmed the arrest and told Reuters his case would be heard next week. He did not respond to further questions.
Earlier, Hafiz Saeed – the chief of the proscribed Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) – was convicted by a court on two charges of terrorism financing last year. Hafiz Saeed denies involvement in the 2008 Mumbai attacks. On November 19, an ATC convicted Hafiz Saeed and three others in two separate terror-financing cases.
The court handed down 10 years and six-month imprisonment each to Saeed, Malik Zafar Iqbal and Yahya Mujahid, besides six months imprisonment to Abdul Rehman Makki. The court also forfeited property possessed by Saeed, besides imposing a fine of Rs 110,000 on him.
ATC-I Judge Arshad Hussain Bhutta conducted the proceedings and handed down the sentences on charges mentioned in the FIR numbers 16 and 25 of 2019, registered and investigated by CTD.
The CTD had registered the cases against the convicts under Section 11-N of Anti-Terrorism Act 1997. It was alleged that the convicts committed terrorism financing by managing assets of a proscribed organisation, and helped raise funds. It is pertinent to mention that Saeed has been behind bars since July 2019.
