A Pakistan court sentenced Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, a senior member of the terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and the mastermind behind the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, to five years in jail for financing terrorism.
Lakhvi is wanted by India and the United States for the 2008 Mumbai Attacks, in which over 160 people were killed.
Lakhvi was sentenced to 5 years in jail concurrently for three counts and fined 100,000 rupees for each count, reported Reuters.
Lakhvi was arrested in 2008, but was later released on bail. The Indian government has repeatedly asked Pakistan to try Lakhvi for the 26/11 attacks, but the Pakistan government had maintained that India did not present them enough proof to try him.
India, United States React to Sentencing
Reacting to the development, India’s Ministry of External Affairs said that the timing of these actions suggested “intention of conveying a sense of compliance ahead of APJG (Asia Pacific Joint Group) meet & FATF (Financial Action Task Force) plenary meet in February”.
“It's become routine for Pakistan to come up with farcical actions prior to important meetings,” MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said on Friday during a press briefing, according to ANI.
“UN proscribed entities and designated terrorists act as proxies for Pakistani establishment to fulfil its anti-India agenda. It’s for the international community to hold Pakistan to account and ensure that it takes credible action against terror groups, terror infrastructure and terrorists,” he reportedly added.
The United States welcomed Lakhvi's arrest, which took place on Saturday.
“We will follow his prosecution & sentencing closely & urge that he be held accountable for his involvement in the Mumbai attacks,” said the US Home Department on Twitter.
Earlier, a UN Security Council sanctions committee said Lakhvi is involved in militant activity in a number of other regions and countries, including Chechnya, Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan, reported The Indian Express.
A spokesman for the Counter Terrorism Department told Reuters in a statement that Lakhvi had been sent to prison to serve the sentences.
(With inputs from Reuters, ANI and The Indian Express)
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