LAHORE: Chief of the banned outfit Jamat-ud-Dawa Hafiz Muhammad Saeed has been sent to jail on judicial remand by an ATC here today.
Hafiz Saeed was arrested by Punjab’s Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) while he was going to Gujranwala from Lahore today.
Savants at the helm of affairs are attempting to find a connection between today’s development with the PM Imran Khan’s 3-day official visit to Washington where he is expected to meet Donald Trump on 22nd of July (2019).
It may be recalled that Pakistan was placed by Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in its grey list of countries with unsatisfactory controls over money laundering & terrorism financing. Pakistan had to act before October deadline by means of crackdowns against such entities.
It is pertinent to mention here that Hafiz Muhammad Saeed and his 12 aides are facing 23 cases regarding collecting funds and transferring the money to terror suspects. Five trusts (Dawatul Irshad Trust, Moaz Bin Jabal Trust, Al Anfaal Trust, Al-Madina Foundation Trust & Alhamd Trust) were allegedly used by the accused to generate funds for terror financing.
Hafiz Muhammad Saeed’s brother-in-law Abdul Rehman Makki, Ameer Hamza, Yahya Aziz. Malik Zafar Iqbal, Muhammad Naeem, Mohsin Bilal, Abdul Raqeeb, Dr Ahmad Daud, Dr Muhammad Ayub, Abdullah Ubaid, Muhammad Ali and Abdul Ghaffar were booked for their fund-raising activities. According to CTD the assets controlled by the banned outfit would be confiscated by the state.
Incidentally, on Monday (15th of July, 2019) an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) here had granted pre-arrest bail to Hafiz Muhammad Saeed and three others in a case pertaining to JuD’s alleged utilization of a piece of land for its seminary.
CTD is expected to hold a Press Conference this evening here at its Lahore bureau.
