ISLAMABAD: Jamaatud Dawa (JuD) leader Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, the alleged mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, was released from the Adiala Jail on Friday.

Soon after his release, however, Mr Lakhvi was shifted to an undisclosed place by his supporters due to security concerns.

The Lahore High Court (LHC), while hearing a petition filed by Mr Lakhvi against his fourth one-month detention, dismissed the detention orders.

The Punjab government had maintained that Lakhvi was detained on ‘sensitive information’ provided by intelligence agencies.

Mr Lakhvi was detained in 2009. He obtained bail from an anti-terrorism court in December 2014 but after criticism and protest by the Indian government, he was detained under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO). Later, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) suspended the MPO but the Supreme Court restored it in January and instructed the high court to listen to the government stance. The high court again set aside the detention order, saying the government had failed to justify the detention.

LHC, while hearing a petition filed by Mr Lakhvi against his fourth one-month detention, dismissed the detention orders

Mr Lakhvi will continue facing trial over the Mumbai attacks in which 166 people were killed. India alleged that Lashkar-i-Taiba, allegedly headed by Mr Lakhvi, was involved in the attacks.

When contacted, JuD spokesman Yahya Mujahid told Dawn that though Mr Lakhvi was released, his place of stay would not be disclosed due to security reasons.

“Though people get bail from courts within days, we spent over six years in obtaining his release,” he said.

A relative of Mr Lakhvi requesting not to be identified said because of the past experience JuD was not sure its leader would be released. So there was no plan for his security, he added.

“Mr Lakhvi has four wives and over a dozen children but even they don’t know where he has been shifted,” he said.

Mr Lakhvi’s lawyer Rizwan Abbasi told Dawn that his client was arrested on February 12, 2009, and the case was being heard in the anti-terrorism court of Rawalpindi.

“Last time, the district administration of Okara extended his detention order under the Maintenance of Public Order. It is a big achievement that finally we have got justice from the court,” he said.

In reply to a question, Advocate Abbasi said Mr Lakhvi cannot go out of the country because of the United Nations travel ban on him. However, he can go anywhere in the country.

Though Mr Lakhvi was released from the jail after 2pm, his lawyer said he did not know where he had been shifted.

Published in Dawn, April 11th, 2015

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