The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has sought later today, a reply from the federal government and district magistrate Islamabad on the ‘illegal’ detention of Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, the alleged mastermind of the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai.
Lakhvi, the commander of proscribed militant group, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), was allegedly involved in planning and executing the November 26, 2008 Mumbai attacks that had killed over 160 people.
Justice Noorul Haque heard the petition challenging Lakhvi’s illegal detention and issued notices to the authorities seeking a reply from them by March , 2015.
The local administration had detained Lakhvi under section 3 of the MPO immediately after he was granted post-arrest bail by an anti-terrorism court (ATC) on December 18, 2014.
“The basic objective of extending detention orders is to stop Lakhvi from attending any public meeting or potentially regrouping his [banned outfit],” said an ICT official.
Meanwhile, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) today, sought a compliance report from Adiala Jail officials after the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) challenged the granting of post-arrest bail to Lakhvi.
A two-member bench comprising Justice Noorul Haq N Qureshi and Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui heard an application filed by FIA Special Prosecutor Chaudhry Azhar and later sought a compliance report from jail authorities by January 26.
On March 1, a judicial magistrate also deferred Lakhvi’s indictment in a six-year-old kidnapping case after he failed to appear owing to security reasons.
In December last year, the Golra police had registered a case against Lakhvi for allegedly kidnapping Anwar Khan, a resident of the capital’s outskirts. The case was registered in response to a complaint filed by Muhammad Dawood, Khan’s relative.
Lakhvi was to be indicted on February 28, however, because the accused could not appear before the court due to security reasons, his indictment was deferred till March 7, said special prosecutor Amir Nadeem Tabish.
Earlier news reports had also circulated in the local media that Lakhvi was given VIP treatment in prison.
Also Read: Anti Terrorism Court rejects Lakhvi’s plea
