26/11 Mumbai terror attack mastermind Sajid Mir, once declared dead, jailed for 15 years in Pakistan

Islamabad, June 25: Pakistan has arrested the mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks, Lashkar-e-Taiba's (LeT) Sajid Mir who was declared dead years ago. Mir, involved in 26/11 terror attack, has been sought by both the US and India for over a decade.

26/11 Mumbai terror attack Sajid Mir, once declared dead, jailed for 15 years in Pakistan

As many as 170 people of various nationalities including six Americans were killed in the terror attack when a group consisting of 11 terrorists carried out horrifying terrorists attacks on multiple targets in Mumbai.

This comes at a time when Pakistan is trying to get its name removed from the Financial Action Task Force's (FATF) international terror-financing watchlist. Currently, Pakistan is on the 'Grey List' of the watchdog for not fulfilling the parameters to counter terrorism in the country.

Now, after arresting him, an anti-terrorism court in Pakistan has awarded over 15 years jail term in a terror-financing case to Sajid Mir. “An anti-terrorism court in Lahore early this month had handed down over 15 years jail term to Sajid Majeed Mir, an activist of banned Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), on a terror financing case,” a senior lawyer associated with terror financing cases of LeT and Jamaat-ud-Dawa leaders told PTI on Friday.

The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) of the Punjab Police, which often issues conviction of the suspects in such cases to the media, did not notify Mir's conviction in a terror-financing case, reports Dawn newspaper.

Notably, LeT is a United Nations-designated terrorist organization. Pakistan for years has been denying the presence of Mir and once even claimed that he was dead. The man, Sajid Mir, is on the FBI's list of most-wanted terrorists, with a USD 5 million reward on his head. He has been sought by both US and India for many years. In a conversation with the media portal, Pakistan's former finance minister, Hammad Azhar said that Pakistan took measures against Mir and other designated terrorists that were "satisfactory" to the FATF.