JuD chief Hafiz Saeed put under house arrest

JuD spokesperson Yahya Mujahid confirms the development

ISLAMABAD/ LAHORE: The government on Monday ordered Hafiz Saeed to be placed under house arrest, a spokesperson of Jamaat-ud-Dawa said.

Police arrived at the organisation’s headquarters in Lahore with orders to place him under house arrest, JuD spokesperson Yahya Mujahid said.

Saeed's continued freedom has been a source of continuing friction between Pakistan and its longtime foe India as well as the United States.

"These steps are being taken to please India," Mujahid said.

Earlier during the day, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said the PML-N government was taking steps to “fulfil our obligations”.



“The organisation [JuD] has been ‘under observation’ since 2010-11. Since it has also been listed by the UN Security Council [Sanctions Committee], we are bound to take some steps. We are taking those steps to fulfill our obligations,” he told reporters after inaugurating a passport office in Islamabad.

The action was initiated by the Punjab government in the light of the Ministry of Interior’s order under Section (1) 11EEE of Anti-Terrorism Act 1997.

Other than Saeed, the office bearers detained are: Abdullah Ubaid (Faisalabad), Zafar Iqbal (Markaz Tayyaba Muridke), Abdul Rehman Abid (Markaz Tayyaba Muridke) and Kashif Niazi of Multan.

In 2012, the United States announced a bounty of $10 million on Saeed for his alleged role in 2008 Mumbai attacks in which six American citizens were also killed.