This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.

Mumbai Attack Mastermind Lakhvi's Detention Order Suspended By Islamabad High Court

Mumbai Attack Mastermind's Detention Order Suspended
** FILE ** In this file photo dated June 28, 2008, Pakistani Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi speaks during a rally at Muzaffarabad, in Pakistani controlled Kashmir, Pakistan, Saturday, June 28, 2008. Security forces overran a militant camp on the outskirts of Pakistani Kashmir's main city and seized an alleged mastermind of the attacks that shook India's financial capital last month, officials said Monday. Backed by a helicopter, the troops grabbed Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi among at least 12 people taken Sunday in the raid on the riverbank camp run by the banned group Laskhar-e-Taiba in Pakistani Kashmir, the officials said. (AP Photo/Roshan Mughal)
ASSOCIATED PRESS
** FILE ** In this file photo dated June 28, 2008, Pakistani Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi speaks during a rally at Muzaffarabad, in Pakistani controlled Kashmir, Pakistan, Saturday, June 28, 2008. Security forces overran a militant camp on the outskirts of Pakistani Kashmir's main city and seized an alleged mastermind of the attacks that shook India's financial capital last month, officials said Monday. Backed by a helicopter, the troops grabbed Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi among at least 12 people taken Sunday in the raid on the riverbank camp run by the banned group Laskhar-e-Taiba in Pakistani Kashmir, the officials said. (AP Photo/Roshan Mughal)

ISLAMABAD -- The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday suspended the detention of Mumbai terror attack mastermind Zaki-ur Rahman Lakhvi. The order was by Justice Noor-ul-Haq Qureshi, Geo News reported.

On Dec 18, Anti-Terrorist Court (ATC) Judge Syed Kausar Abbas Zaidi had granted bail to Lakhvi. Lakhvi was, however, detained under the Maintenance of Public Order Dec 19 at Rawalpindi's central jail.

He was arrested by Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in February 2009 on the basis of the confessional statement of the lone surviving attacker Ajmal Kasab, who was executed in an Indian jail Nov 21, 2012.

Taliban militants earlier this month killed 150 people, mostly school children, in an attack on an army-run school in Peshawar. Sympathy for the victims' families poured in from across the globe, including India, along with condemnation of the gruesome attack.

But the positive environment vanished within 24 hours when a Pakistan court granted bail to 2008 Mumbai attacks key planner Lakhvi, stunning not only India but also many Pakistanis, who wondered at the timing of his bail.

Pakistan acted fast to control the damage and before Lakhvi was freed, he was detained under a law which empowers authorities to detain a person who could endanger public peace. The government also decided in principle to challenge the bail in a high court, but failed to do so in practice as the higher courts closed for a two-week winter break.

Close
This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.