PHOTO: REUTERS
ISLAMABAD: Jamaatud Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed was released from house arrest on Friday, two days after the Lahore High Court rejected Punjab government's request to extend his detention.
"He is free, we are happy. Thank God there is no more restriction,” Nadeem Awan, a spokesman for Jamaatud Dawa, told Reuters.
The Punjab government in January placed JuD chief and his four aides under house arrest for their alleged activities to ‘harm peace and security’.
The organisations run by Saeed – the Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation (FIF) and JuD – were also placed on the watch list while he was put on the second schedule under Section 11-EEE(1) of the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997. Saeed was detained at his residence in Lahore’s Johar Town which was declared a sub-jail.
India said on Thursday it was outraged at the court order to release Saeed.
It is the third time that the cleric has been released by courts after authorities briefly detained him twice in the aftermath of the attacks in November 2008.
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