Pakistan seeks extension of Hafiz Saeed''s house arrest

Lahore, October 17

Pakistan's Punjab government on Tuesday wanted detention of Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed extended under public safety law, two days after it withdrew its application to prolong his house arrest.

Saeed, the chief of Jamat-ud-Dawah who has been under house arrest since January, was brought before a three-member provincial judicial review board amid high security.

The Punjab Judicial Review Board comprising Justice Yawar Ali, Justice Abdul Sami and Justice Alia Neelam heard arguments of a law officer of the Punjab Home Department, which wanted detention of Saeed and his four close aides — Abdullah Ubaid, Malik Zafar Iqbal, Abdul Rehman Abid and Qazi Kashif Hussain — extended.

Their house arrested ends on October 24.

Under the law, the government can detain a person for up to three months under different charges. This detention can be extended only judicial review board approves.

Lahore police had made strict security measures around the Lahore High Court building when Saeed and others were brought before the board.

The board has issued notices to Advocate General Punjab and foreign and interior secretaries to appear before it on October 19 explain why it wanted the house arrest extended.

On Saturday, the Punjab Home Department withdrew its request from federal board to seek the extension under "anti-terrorism act" saying that their detention was already extended until October 24 under the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance 1960.

On January 31, Saeed and four others were detained by Punjab government under preventative detention under the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, for 90 days. However, the last two extensions were made on the 'public safety law'.

The United States declared Saeed’s so-called charitable organisation Jamat-ud-Dawah (JuD) as a foreign terrorist organisation in June 2014. —  PTI