India has asked Pakistan to extradite LeT founder Hafiz Saeed, the Mumbai attack mastermind and a UN-proscribed terrorist, who is wanted by Indian probe agencies in a number of terror cases, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said on Friday.
News18 reported on Thursday quoting sources that the government has officially requested Pakistan to extradite Hafiz Saeed to India to stand trial in various cases registered by the National Investigation Agencies (NIA).
External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said the request for extraditing Saeed along with certain documents was recently sent to Islamabad.
“The person in question (Hafiz Saeed) is wanted in numerous cases in India. He is also a UN-proscribed terrorist. In this regard, we have conveyed a request along with relevant supporting documents to the government of Pakistan to extradite him to India to face trial in a particular case,” he said.
Bagchi’s remarks came in response to a question at his weekly media briefing. The Indian high commission in Pakistan handed over the request to Islamabad a few weeks ago, he said.
The spokesperson said India has been flagging to Pakistan the activities of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) founder Saeed and that he is wanted in India.
India also took note of reports of Saeed’s son Talha Saeed standing for elections in Pakistan and said the “mainstreaming” of radical terrorist outfits in that country is nothing new and that it has been part of its state policy for a long time.
Asked about reports of Saeed’s son Talha Saeed standing for elections in Pakistan, Bagchi said the “mainstreaming of radical terrorist outfits” in that country is nothing new.
”We have seen some reports in this regard. It is an internal affair,” Bagchi said, adding that he generally does not comment on internal issues of any country.
“The mainstreaming of radical terrorist outfits in Pakistan is nothing new and has been part of its state policy for a long time. Such developments have serious implications for the security of the region. On our part, we will of course continue to monitor all developments that have an implication on our national security,” he said.
Talha Saeed is considered number two in the LeT hierarchy with his father being at the helm of the terror outfit.
Saeed, the founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba, has been in jail since 2019 after being convicted for several years in multiple terror finance cases along with some other leaders of the banned Jamaat-ud-Dawa.
Saeed, a UN-designated terrorist on whom the US has placed a $10 million bounty, was arrested on July 2019 in the terror financing cases. Saeed-led JuD is the front organisation for the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) which is responsible for carrying out the 2008 Mumbai attack that killed 166 people, including six Americans.
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