JuD chief, three others jailed over terror-financing

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Thursday convicted Jamaatud Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed and three others in two separate terror-financing cases.

The court handed down 10 years and six-month imprisonment each to Saeed, Malik Zafar Iqbal and Yahya Mujahid, besides six months imprisonment to Abdul Rehman Makki. The court also forfeited property, possessed by Saeed, besides imposing a fine of Rs110,000 on him.

ATC-I Judge Arshad Hussain Bhutta conducted the proceedings and handed down the sentences on charges mentioned in the FIR numbers 16 and 25 of 2019, registered and investigated by Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD).

The CTD had registered the cases against the convicts under Section 11-N of Anti-Terrorism Act 1997. It was alleged that the convicts committed terrorism financing by managing assets of proscribed organisation, and helped raise funds.

It is pertinent to mention that Saeed was behind bars since July 2019. He had already been convicted in two other cases. The CTD had registered various FIRs against the JuD leaders in different cities of Punjab.

However, the trial in several cases was transferred to Lahore, following an order passed by the high court on the petitions of the suspects.