The Ministry of Home Affairs on Saturday declared Hafiz Talha Saeed, son of Hafiz Mohammad Saeed as a designated terrorist under the provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. Hafiz Talha Saeed is a senior terrorist leader of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and head of the cleric wing of the LeT.
In the official notification issued by the Central Government, the MHA said that Hafiz Talha Saeed has been actively involved in the recruitment, fund collection, planning, and executing of attacks by the LeT in India and Indian interests in Afghanistan.
MHA issues a notification declaring Hafiz Talha Saeed, son of Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, a senior leader of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and head of the cleric wing of the LeT, as a designated terrorist under the provisions of the UAPA Act 1967 pic.twitter.com/Cxo2OKtoqf
— ANI (@ANI) April 9, 2022
The letter also stated that Saeed has been actively visiting various LeT centres across Pakistan and during his sermons propagating for jihad against India, Israel, the United States of America, and Indian interests in other western countries. “The Central government believes that Hafiz Talha Saeed is involved in terrorism and should be notified as a terrorist under the UAPA”, it said.
This is a day after Jamat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed, the mastermind of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack was sentenced to 32 years imprisonment by the Pakistan Court. The Court also imposed a fine of PKR 3,40,000 on Saeed.
Reportedly, Saeed an UN-designated terrorist on whom the US has placed a USD 10 million bounty, was arrested in July 2019 in the terror financing cases. He found LeT as a pet organization of JuD and planned the 2008 Mumbai attacks in which many civilians lost their lives. The global terror financing watchdog Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is pushing Pakistan to take action against the terrorists roaming free in Pakistan and using the territory to plan attacks against India. Pakistan has been on the grey list of FATF since June 2018 for failing to check money laundering leading to terror financing.
Saeed’s son Talha Saeed serves as the Lashkar-e-Taiba second-in-command. He controls the finances of LeT. India has banned terrorist organizations LeT and JuD. Also, the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Russia, and Australia have banned Lashkar-e-Taiba.
