NEW DELHI: Indian MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi has announced that India has formally asked Pakistan to hand over Hafiz Saeed, the LeT founder and the mastermind behind the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. Bagchi said that India has provided Pakistan with the necessary documents to support its request. He added that Saeed is a UN-designated terrorist and is involved in several cases in India. “We have requested the Government of Pakistan to extradite him to India to face trial in a specific case,” the MEA spokesperson said.
According to a report by Geo News channel on Wednesday (27 December, 2023), India has formally requested Pakistan to extradite Saeed, who is in Pakistani custody since 2019 for his involvement in terror financing.
Saeed has been found guilty and punished in five or more cases of terror financing since 2020.
Sources told News18 that India has sent a Letter of Rogatory to Pakistan, naming Saeed as the accused in various NIA cases related to terror attacks and terror funding in Kashmir.
India has been seeking Saeed’s extradition to try him for the 2008 Mumbai attacks, but the process has been hindered by the lack of an extradition treaty between the two countries.
Saeed’s new political front has nominated candidates for most of the seats in the national and provincial Assemblies of Pakistan for the upcoming general elections on 8 February, 2024.
Saeed was put on the ‘United Nations Security Council Sanctions Committee on Al-Qaida and ISIL’ in December 2008, after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.
He is also an international terrorist as per the United States and the EU. The US has offered a $10 million reward for him.
In addition, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry has acknowledged that it has received a formal request from India for the extradition of Hafiz Saeed.
