Jamatud Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed granted pre-arrest bail

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Lahore has granted pre-arrest bail to Jamat ud Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, according to the Pakistan newspaper Dawn. The case which involved JuD chief and the three others- Hafiz Masood, Ameer Hamza, and Malik Zafar pertains to the outfit's alleged illegal use of land for its seminary. The court has granted interim bail until Aug 31 against surety bonds of Rs50,000 each. During the hearing, the legal counsel of the accused insisted that JuD was not using any piece of land illegally and urged the court to accept bail pleas.

Meanwhile, the Lahore High Court (LHC) issued notices to the federal government, the Punjab government and the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) regarding a petition filed by Jamatud Dawa chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed and his seven aides, challenging a case carrying the charge of terror financing lodged by the CTD.

On July 3, the CTD of Punjab Police had registered 23 FIRs against 13 leaders of JuD including Saeed, who is reportedly living at his Jauhar Town residence in Lahore, on the charges of terror financing in different cities of Punjab province.

In June last year, the FATF placed Pakistan on the grey list of countries whose domestic laws are considered too weak to tackle the challenges of money laundering and terrorism financing.

Saeed-led JuD is believed to be the front organization for the Lashkar-e-Taiba which is responsible for carrying out the 2008 Mumbai attacks. The US declared the LeT as a foreign terrorist organization in June 2014.