Sajid Mir.
Highlight
- Sajid Majeed Mir has been sentenced to over 15 years in prison by an anti-terrorism court in Pakistan in a terrorism financing case.
- He is one of India’s most wanted terrorists on whom US has placed a bounty of USD 5 million
- His sentence comes as Islamabad prepares for site visits by FATF officials.
2008 mumbai terror attack news updateSajid Majeed Mir, one of India’s most wanted terrorists, on whom the US has placed a USD 5 million bounty for his role in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, has been sentenced to over 15 years in a terrorist-financing case. Jail has happened. Anti-terrorism court in Pakistan struggling to get out of FATF gray list.
The Anti-Terrorism Department (CTD) of the Punjab Police, which often issues convictions to suspects in such cases to the media, did not report Mir’s conviction.
His conviction comes as Islamabad prepares to visit the site by officials from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global terror financing watchdog, to verify Pakistan’s implementation of relevant anti-money laundering and terrorism-financing reforms.
“Earlier this month, an anti-terrorism court in Lahore sentenced Sajid Majeed Mir, an activist of the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), to 15-and-a-half years in prison, a senior lawyer said. Told news agency PTI on Friday (June 24) related to terror financing cases of Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) leaders.
Also, since it was a closed-door proceedings in the jail, the media was not allowed.
The lawyer further said that Mir has been lodged in Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat Jail since his arrest in April. He added that the court has also imposed a fine of over Rs 400,000 on the convict.
Pakistani officials have claimed in the past that he had died, but Western countries remained unconvinced and demanded proof of his death. The issue became a key point in the FATF’s assessment of Pakistan’s progress on the Action Plan late last year. It was here that things started moving forward in Mir’s case, which led to his ‘arrest’, Dawn newspaper reported on Saturday.
His conviction and conviction, therefore, were key achievements, the paper remarked, which were demonstrated by Pakistani authorities in a progress report given to the FATF during the latest plenary on their action plan.
It actually helped convince the FATF members that Pakistan had completed all the necessary tasks.
Know more about Sajid Majeed Mir:
Mir, 44, is on the FBI’s list of most wanted terrorists. He has a bounty of five million USD on his head.
Mir is on India’s most wanted list for his role in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, which killed 166 people, including six Americans.
Ahead of the last meeting of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), Pakistan reportedly told the agency that it had arrested and prosecuted Sajid Mir for demanding his removal from the global anti-laundering body’s ‘grey list’ .
Mir was called the “Project Manager” of the Mumbai attacks. Reportedly, Mir had come to India in 2005 using a fake passport in a fake name.
The FBI states that “Mir is wanted for his alleged involvement in the 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India. Beginning on November 26, 2008, and continuing through November 29, 2008, ten Lashkar-e-Taiba attackers carried out a series of coordinated attacks on several targets, including hotels, cafes and a train station in Mumbai, in which around 170 people were killed.
“Six Americans were killed during the three-day attacks. Mir reportedly served as the chief planner of the attacks, directed preparation and reconnaissance, and was one of the Pakistan-based controllers during the attacks. Additionally, Mir Allegedly conspired to execute a terrorist. Attack on a newspaper and its employees in Denmark between 2008 and 2009.”
“Mir was indicted on April 21, 2011 in U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, Chicago, Illinois, and charged with conspiracy to cause damage to the property of a foreign government; material aid to terrorists. providing; the killing of a civilian outside the US and aid and encouragement; and the bombing of places of public use. An arrest warrant was issued on April 22, 2011,” it said.
Hafiz Saeed:
Hafiz Saeed, the alleged mastermind of the Mumbai terror attacks and Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief, has already been sentenced to 68 years in prison by an anti-terrorism court in Lahore in terrorism financing cases.
The sentences are running concurrently, that is, he will not have to spend many years in prison.
Operation Commander of Mumbai attack Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi has also been sentenced to several years in jail. Saeed and Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist Abdul Rehman Makki are also lodged in Lahore’s Kot Lapkhapat Jail.
UN-designated terrorist Saeed, on whom the US has placed a USD 10 million bounty, was arrested in July 2019 on terrorism financing charges.
Saeed-led Jamaat-ud-Dawa is the flagship organization of Lashkar-e-Taiba which is responsible for carrying out the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
The US Treasury Department has designated Saeed as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist.
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global terror financing watchdog, has been instrumental in prompting Islamabad to act against terrorists roaming freely in Pakistan and using its territory to carry out attacks in India.
The FATF placed Pakistan on the gray list in June 2018 and asked Islamabad to implement an action plan to curb money laundering.
Last week, the Paris-based FATF said Pakistan would remain on the “grey list” of countries under surveillance, a statement from the Paris-based global money-laundering and terror-financing watchdog said on Friday.
It said Pakistan could be removed from the list after visiting the site to verify the implementation of its reforms on countering terrorism financing mechanisms.
(with inputs from agencies)
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