LAHORE: Justice Mahmood Maqbool Bajwa of the Lahore High Court will take up a writ petition of Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, the alleged mastermind of 2008 Mumbai attacks, on Friday (today), challenging his detention order passed by the Punjab home department.

The petition filed through Advocate Rizwan Abbasi prayed to the court to set aside the detention of Lakhvi for being illegal and a violation of Islamabad High Court (IHC) order.

Accepting an appeal of Lakhvi, the IHC had set aside his third time detention and ordered the authorities to release him immediately. However, before his release, the home department on March 14 issued a fresh detention order against Lakhvi. Previously, he was also granted bail in the case.

In his petition, Lakhvi pleaded that the government issued the impugned detention order owing to pressure exerted by India. He asked the court to set aside the detention order and direct the government to release the accused.

Lakhvi, central leader of Jamatud Dawa, is accused of being mastermind of the Mumbai attacks that killed at least 166 people. — Staff Reporter

Published in Dawn, March 20th, 2015

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