New Delhi: The Union government has made a formal request to Pakistan for the extradition of 26/11 Mumbai attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed to India.
Saeed is wanted in numerous cases in India, hence New Delhi has asked Islamabad to hand him over so that the terrorist faces trial in India, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said on Friday.
“We have conveyed a request along with relevant supporting documents to the Government of Pakistan to extradite him to extradite him to India to face trial in a particular case,” Bagchi said.
He also stated that Indian government has long been flagging the issue of Saeed’s activities to the Pakistani government.
Saeed is one of India’s most wanted terrorists and carries a $10 million bounty on his head for his alleged involvement in the well-orchestrated Mumbai terror attacks on November 26, 2008, which killed 166 people and injured 300 over four days.
Saeed is also a UN-designated terrorist, Bagchi reminded during a press briefing.
On recent reports about the possibility of Saeed-backed Pakistan Markazi Muslim League (PMML) contesting upcoming general elections in Pakistan,
Bagchi said the pattern of “radical elements” participating in elections in Pakistan was nothing new.
“Don’t want to comment on election processes in other countries. However, radical elements participating in elections, and mainstreaming of radical, extremist elements is not new in Pakistan. Such developments have serious implications for the security of our region. On our part, we will, of course, continue to monitor all developments that have an implication on our national security,” the MEA official added.
Saeed’s son Talha Saeed is also due to contest the general elections from Lahore.
Talha is considered to be second in rank in Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), after his father.
Like his father, Talha is a designated terrorist under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
