Hafiz Saeed challenges terror financing charges against him

Lahore, July 12: Mumbai attack mastermind and JuD chief Hafiz Saeed and his six aides on Friday challenged the charges of terror financing and money laundering against them in a Pakistani court.

The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) of Punjab Police on July 3 registered 23 FIRs against 13 leaders of the Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD) including its chief Saeed on the charges of "terror financing" in different cities of Punjab province.

Despite the Punjab Police's claim that all those nominated in the terror financing FIRs will be arrested, no action has been taken against them so far.

On Friday Saeed, who is reportedly living at his Jauhar Town residence in Lahore, challenged these FIRs in the Lahore High Court (LHC). Saeed and other six JuD made the federal and the Punjab governments, and CTD respondents in the case.

"Hafiz Saeed and other (petitioners) are not members of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) as per the (earlier) judgement of the LHC. The petitioners have no nexus with LeT or Al-Qaeda. They belong to JuD and they are not involved in any terrorist activity and they are only working for social welfare like 'Edhi' and more than that they are also educating the poor and the needy," the petition said.

"The Indian lobby made allegations against them (Saeed and others) that they are involved in Mumbai attacks but there is no such evidence or even any linkage born out from the said documents against the petitioners. There is no evidence that the petitioners are involved in anti-state activities and security risk," it said.

The petitioners prayed to the LHC to declare that they (petitioners) are not linked with the LeT and therefore the CTD's FIRs be declared illegal.