After ‘House Arrest’, Pakistan Places Mumbai Attack Mastermind Hafiz Saeed On Exit Control List

Pakistan has placed Hafiz Saeed, the chief of Jamaat-ud- Dawa and mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai attack, on the Exit Control List. The move comes just two days after he was placed under house arrest. 38 other JuD affiliates have also been placed on the list. Those persons on the list are prohibited from leaving Pakistan.

A letter regarding government’s decision has been forwarded to all provincial governments and the Federal Investigation Agency pf Pakistan. “Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, Abdullah Ubaid, Zafar Iqbal, Abdur Rehman Abid and Qazi Kashif Niaz are reportedly active members of the aforementioned organisations within the meaning of Section 11EEE(1) of the ATA 1997 (as amended),” read a notification issued by Islamabad.

Interestingly, Saeed is already listed as a terrorist under UN Security Council Resolution 1267 and can’t travel outside the country. Therefore, the move is as hollow as other actions taken against him. Experts believe that Pakistan is, by first arresting the JuD leader and then putting him on the control list, plucking a leaf from the past.

Saeed was arrested after the 2006 Mumbai train bomb blasts. He was under house arrest twice from August to October that year but was later released by courts. He was again put under house arrest after Mumbai terror attacks in November 2008 but was freed by a court in 2009.