Pakistan to pay 1.5 lakh to terrorist Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi who planned 26/11 Mumbai attack

In yet another move that will bring Pakistan the ire of the world for shielding terrorists, it is set to pay Rs 1.5 lakh a month to 26/11 Mumbai attack planner Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, after the United Nations Security Council's (UNSC) nod. The 1267 sanctions committee of the UNSC has allowed the payment to operations head of terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba, after Pakistan's request of the same. The UNSC also approved a monthly payment for nuclear scientist Mahmood Sultan Bashiruddin, who is under scanner for his meetings with deceased Al Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden. Pakistan will pay Lakhvi around Rs 50,000 a month for food, Rs 45,000 for medicines, Rs 20,000 for public utility charges, Rs 20,000 for lawyer fee and 15000 for transportation.

On December 3, 2008, Indian officials named Lakhvi as a planner of the 26/11 2008 Mumbai attacks. He had reportedly offered to pay the family of Ajmal Kasab the sum of Rs. 150,000 for his participation in the attacks. On December 7, 2008, Pakistani armed forces arrested Lakhvi in a raid on a LeT training camp near Muzafarabad in Pakistani Kashmir. He was granted bail in 2015.

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Pakistan's attempt to escape FATF blacklisting

In August, before FATF's meeting, Pakistan imposed financial sanctions on 88 banned terror groups, including Hafiz Saeed, Masood Azhar, Dawood Ibrahim and Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi. However, in November, Pakistan’s Federal Investigative Agency (FIA)’s updated list of the ‘most wanted’ did not include the 26/11 masterminds. India exposed Pakistan and MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said, "While the list includes a select few members of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, a UN-designated terror entity based in Pakistan, including the crew members of the boats used to execute the 26/11 attack, it glaringly omits the mastermind and key conspirators of the heinous terror attack."

In 2019, Pakistan made a similar request for 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed and the request was accepted by the UN Security Council committee. Pakistan in a letter to UN said that Hafiz Saeed needs funds to cover the basic expenses for his 'family of four,' as a 'sole supporter' and it's responsible for food, drink and clothes expenses for his family members. Pakistan requested to give an allowance of 1,50,000 Pakistan rupees to the terrorist per month. 

Hafiz Saeed sentenced 

Mumbai terror attack mastermind and Jamat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed was on November 19 sentenced to 10 years in jail by an anti-terrorism court in Pakistan in two more terror cases. Saeed, a UN-designated terrorist, whom the US has placed a USD 10 million bounty on, was arrested on July 17 last year in the terror financing cases. He was sentenced to 11 years in jail by an anti-terrorism court in February this year in two terror financing cases. He is lodged at the Lahore's high-security Kot Lakhpat jail, though it is widely held that the arrests, sentences and other aspects of the crackdown are a sham for the global audience.

READ | ED chargesheets 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed & others for terror-financing in PMLA probe

READ | Pakistan's Anti-terror Court Sentences JuD Chief Hafiz Saeed To 10 Years In Jail In Two More Cases