Hafiz Saeed, 26/11Attacks Mastermind, Placed Under House Arrest in Lahore: Pak Media Reports

New Delhi: Hafiz Saeed, the Jamaat ud-Dawa chief and mastermind of the 2008 attacks in Mumbai, has been placed under house arrest in Lahore, Pakistani media reported late on Monday.

The JuD is most likely to be banned and its leadership may also be arrested, the Pakistan Today quoted a Dunya News report as saying. Media reports said Saeed was detained at Lahore’s Jamia Masjid Al Qadsia Chowburji.

Apart from Saeed, four others have reportedly been placed under house arrest. They were identified as JuD founding member Zafar Iqbal, editor of JuD magazine Kazi Kashif Nawaz and members Abdu Rehman Abid and Abdullah Ubaid. All five will reportedly be produced in court within 24 hours.

Three days ago, Punjab's Ministry of Interior had included names of Saeed and four others — Abdullah Ubaid, Zafar Iqbal, Abdur Rehman Abid and Qazi Kashif Niaz — in the Watch List as per UNSC 1267 Sanctions and ordered their preventive detention.

Saeed, who is also the founder of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, carries a $10-million bounty on his head.

PTI quoted JuD member Ahmed Nadeem as saying that Saeed "is at Masjid-e-Qadsia Chauburji and a heavy contingent of police has surrounded the JuD headquarters." "The commanding police officer told us that he has with him the house arrest order of the JuD chief issued by the Punjab Home Department," Nadeem told PTI.

The News International quoted media reports which said that the Chinese government had conveyed to Pakistan to “rein in” Hafiz Saeed and Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar.

The News quoted a senior official who said: “Consultations are going on whether to declare JuD as defunct or not. However, the final decision will be taken after consultations between the civilians and military authorities.” The report said the official was “directly linked” with the matter.

The report further said that the JuD has started discreetly working under the name of ‘Tehreek-e-Azadi-e-Kashmir’ (Kashmir Freedom Movement). It added that the outfit may enter politics with a new name in 2017, which Saeed had declared as “the year for Kashmir”.

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.

(With agency inputs)