LAHORE – The chief of banned Jamaatud Dawa (JuD) Hafiz Saeed would remain under house arrest despite that the Punjab government withdrew a request seeking an extension to his detention.
Saeed, who carries a bounty of $10 million on his head would now face detention along with four other fellows under Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance (MPO).
The development came as Justice Ejaz Afzal of the Supreme Court chaired the session of Federal Review Board, which was hearing the request, at the Supreme Court’s Lahore registry on Saturday.
A section officer of Punjab’s Home Ministry informed the board that the government had not extended a notification issued for the house arrest of Hafiz Saeed under the Anti-Terrorism Act and it wants to withdraw the application, to which the board disposed of the application.
The provincial government had earlier applied to extend the house arrest for the fifth time.
Saeed and his fellows have already challenged their house arrest under MPO in the Lahore High Court (LHC) as he is supposed to remain under house arrest till the end of this month under the existing order.
The JuD chief had subsequently been detained under Section 11-EEE(1) of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1977 on January 31.
Saeed has been accused by the United States and India of masterminding the 2008 attacks on the Indian financial hub Mumbai that left 166 people dead. He, however, has repeatedly denied involvement in the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
