Key accused of 26/11 terror attacks Hafiz Saeed in Pakistan custody serving 78-year imprisonment, says UNSC

The United Nations has stated that Hafiz Saeed, the mastermind of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, is currently in the custody of Pakistan, serving a 78-year imprisonment sentence since February 12, 2020. The information was updated on December 19, 2023, by the Security Council Committee.

Saeed was listed by the UN in December 2008 for his association with Lashkar-e-Tayyiba and Al Qaida, particularly for his involvement in financing, planning, facilitating, preparing, or perpetrating activities for both entities. Despite being designated as a terrorist by the UN and EU in the 2000s, Saeed had not been charged or extradited for nearly two decades. He was sentenced to 33 years in jail for financing terrorism in April 2022 and is the leader of the terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba. Pakistan has received India’s request for his extradition, but there is no bilateral extradition treaty between India and Pakistan.

Addressing a weekly briefing, the spokesperson had said, “The person in question (Hafiz Saeed) is wanted in numerous cases in India. He is also a UN-proscribed terrorist. In this regard, we have conveyed a request along with relevant supporting documents, to the government of Pakistan to extradite him to India to face trial in a particular case.
Notably, Saeed, who is a UN-proscribed terrorist is the founder of terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). He was the mastermind of the deadly 26/11 attacks in Mumbai and is wanted in India in numerous cases.

Muhammad Hafiz Saeed, who has been in jail since July 17, 2019, for other charges, was sentenced in April 2022 by a special anti-terrorism court in Lahore, Pakistan, to a jail term of 33 years for “financing terrorism.” Despite being designated a terrorist by the UN and EU in the 2000s, Saeed was neither charged nor extradited over nearly two decades. Saeed was designated as a terrorist by the United Nations Security Council in December 2008.