Mumbai attack mastermind and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operations commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi was arrested on Saturday in Pakistan, an official said. The chief planner of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks and the LeT’s current supreme commander of operations has been arrested on charges of terror financing.
Lakhvi, who was on bail since 2015 in the Mumbai attack case, was arrested by the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) of Punjab province. However, the CTD did not reveal the place of his arrest. The Counter-Terrorism Department has already filed over two dozen cases against Hafiz Saeed, JuD chief and mastermind of the Mumbai attacks, on charges of money laundering and terrorist financing. As per reports, Lakhvi has been found guilty of extending financial help to terrorists through different umbrella businesses. Reliable sources told IANS that Lakhvi has been arrested for running a dispensary and generating funds for the purpose of diverting the same to terrorists. He was arrested through an intelligence based operation (IBO) by the CTD and was in reference to a case filed against him at the CTD police station Lahore.
Lakhvi’s name is also present in the UN proscribed persons list. He is a close aid to Saeed and has been involved in various operations of both the JuD and LeT. As per details shared by the CTD, Lakhvi has been arrested on charges of terrorist financing. His case will now be heard in the Anti-Terrorist Court (ATC) in Lahore.
