Lakhvi back with his family, says lawyer but won’t reveal his location
Abbasi said Lakhvi was released as there was no evidence against him. “The case against him was built on the information provided by India. It was only information and not evidence,” he said.
Days after Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, one of the masterminds of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks was released from a jail in Pakistan, he was back with his family, his lawyer told The Indian Express.
After Lakhvi was released from Adiala jail in Rawalpindi on Saturday, where he was lodged for the past seven years, he was taken to an undisclosed location by his supporters.
Lakhvi’s lawyer Raza Rizwan Abbasi said, “He is very much with his family now.” Lakhvi has four wives and over a dozen children. Abbasi refused to share Lakhvi’s location.
After being detained in 2009 by the Pakistan authorities for allegedly plotting the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, Lakhvi obtained bail in the case from an anti-terrorism court in December 2014. After an uproar by India, the Pakistan government booked him under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) Act and he remained in prison after that. The Islamabad High Court has quashed the detention order and ordered Lakhvi’s release.
Abbasi said Lakhvi was released as there was no evidence against him. “The case against him was built on the information provided by India. It was only information and not evidence,” he said.
He added that it was India’s responsibility to link the evidence pertaining to Lakhvi’s involvement in the attack.
“The evidence India has given is not enough, the part linking to his involvement in the attack is not there,” he added.
A senior home ministry official said, “the onus to convert the information provided by India about his involvement in the attacks lied with the Pakistan government. They should have done their work, it is because of lack of seriousness on Pakistan’s behalf that he has been allowed to walk free.”
Source:: Indian Express
