Lahore: Pakistan's top investigative agency has sought property details' of the 2008 Mumbai terror attack proclaimed offenders and their families from the Revenue Department of Punjab province, a senior official said on Thursday. The Mumbai attack case has entered into the 14th year but none of its suspects in Pakistan has been punished yet, showing that the case had never been in the priority list of the country that appears to be keen to put it under the carpet.
"In a letter to the senior member of the board of revenue Punjab, the Federal Investigation Agency's (FIA) counter-terrorism wing has sought property details of the proclaimed offenders of the Mumbai attack and their family members, a senior FIA official told the media.
The proclaimed offenders include banned Lashkar-e-Taiba's Amjad Khan of Multan, Iftikhar Ali of Booraywala, Shahid Ghafoor of Bahawalpur, Muhammad Usman of Sahiwal, Ateequr Rehman of Lahore, Riaz Ahmed of Hafizabad, Muhammad Mushtaq of Gujranwala, Muhammad Naeem of DG Khan, Abdul Shakoor of Karachi, Muhammad Sabir of Multan, Shakil Ahmed of Rahim Yar Khan and Abdul Rehman of Bawalnagar. Most of them were members of the boat Al Hussaini & Al Fouz used by the terrorists in Mumbai terrorist attack and other provided funds and obtained Voice-over Internet Protocol (VOIP) connection for terrorists.
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In November 2008, 10 LeT terrorists had sailed into Mumbai from Karachi and carried out coordinated attacks, killing 166 people and injuring over 300. Nine of the attackers were killed by police while lone survivor Ajmal Kasab was caught and hanged after a trial.
The 26/11 case has been pending in the anti-terrorism courts Rawalpindi/Islamabad since 2009. Six arrested suspects -- Abdul Wajid, Mazhar Iqbal, Hamad Amin Sadiq, Shahid Jamil Riaz, Jamil Ahmed and Younis Anjum -- are facing charges of abetment to murder, attempted murder, planning and executing the Mumbai attacks and they are detained at the Adiala Jail Rawalpindi. The case proceedings have virtually come to halt for the last few years. The FIA is of the view that since India has refused to send its 24 witnesses to Pakistan for recording of their statements and other evidence, the case cannot proceed further.
Mumbai attack mastermind and chief of Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) Hafiz Saeed and LeT operation commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi are detained at Kot Lapkhapt jail in Lahore serving a term for several years in terror financing cases. The US named Saeed as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, and the US, since 2012, has offered a USD 10 million reward for information that brings Saeed to justice.
No serious effort has so far been launched by the Pakistani authorities to nab and punish those involved in the Mumbai attack case despite a passage of about 14 years.
PTI
