Pakistan Orders Release of Suspect in Mumbai Attacks

Date: 13 March 2015 - 21:39

News ID: ۱۲۰۲۳

ISLAMABAD (Press TV) – A top court in Pakistan has cancelled the detention order of Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, the alleged mastermind behind the November 2008 terror attacks in the Indian city of Mumbai.
Justice Noorul Haq of Islamabad High Court on Friday accepted the 55-year-old’s appeal and declared void the detention orders of Lakhvi, ordering his immediate release.
Lakhvi, who has been imprisoned in Adiala jail in the city of Rawalpindi, was granted bail by an anti-terror court on December 18, which spurred the fury of Indian officials. However, he was later detained under a public order law that was suspended by Islamabad’s High Court on December 29.
Although Islamabad High Court suspended that order, the Supreme Court reinstated it in January.
Meanwhile, India’s Ministry of Home Affairs reacted to the announcement saying, "It is the responsibility of the Pakistan government to take all legal measures to ensure that Lakhvi does not come out of jail.”
The Mumbai attacks left 166 people dead and were blamed on the banned Pakistani militant group, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
Mohammed Kassab, the Pakistani national who allegedly carried out the attacks, was executed by India in 2012 after he was found guilty of a string of charges, including waging war against India, murder and terrorist acts.
Pakistan has promised to crack down on all terror groups, including those launching attacks in India, following the aftermath of the Peshawar school massacre that killed more than 140 people, mostly children, on December 16.