Authorities in Pakistan are holding Sajid Mir, a senior Lashkar-e-Toiba member who is suspected of being the planner of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks and who was previously thought to be dead. According to sources with knowledge of the situation, Delhi was informed about Mir’s detention a few months ago.
However, the sources claimed that Indian officials have not yet been able to independently corroborate the arrest as there has not yet been a formal public statement of the arrest by Pakistan or any information on his production in a court of law.
According to sources, Pakistan detained Mir on Friday in order to remove him from the Financial Action Task Force’s “grey list,” an international watchdog group that monitors the financing of terrorism. Mir is considered to be more dangerous than Hafiz Saeed, the leader of the Lashkar-e-Taiba.
An unnamed FBI officer was mentioned as indicating that Mir had been detained, prosecuted, and sentenced. There is no public record of such a prosecution, therefore it is unclear in which court he was prosecuted. Other Laskhar members, including Saeed, have been tried, found guilty, and sentenced by Pakistan’s anti-terror courts.
Moreover, it cited Hammad Azhar, the former finance minister of Pakistan who oversaw negotiations with FATF, as saying that Pakistan had taken “acceptable” measures against Mir and other terrorists.
The story also cites an unidentified Pakistani official who claims that Pakistan has “acknowledged” to both the US and India that Mir, who had previously been declared missing or dead by Pakistani authorities, has been located.
Mir would be removed off India’s most wanted list if he were in prison, satisfying one of India’s long-standing requests that Pakistan find him and prosecute him for the 26/11 attacks. There are more people on the list who are still at large, such as Major Abdur Rehman alias Pasha, Brigadier Riaz, Abu Qahafa, Abu al Qama, and Abu Hamza.
