India cites Interpol notice on Saeed, asks Pakistan to act

Stepping up pressure on Pakistan over JuD founder Hafiz Saeed, India today said the Interpol Red Corner Notice against him vindicated its stand on his involvement in Mumbai terror attacks and asked Islamabad to take action against him.

Stepping up pressure on Pakistan over Hafiz Saaed, India on Wednesday said the Interpol red corner notice against him vindicated its stand on his involvement in Mumbai terror attacks and asked Islamabad to take action against him.

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"Interpol has issued Red Corner Notice for Saeed's involvement... It is a vindication of the stand the government of India has taken," External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said in New Delhi.

The world should take note of the Interpol notice and come to their own conclusions, he said.

"The perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks will have to be brought to justice. We have painstakingly collected evidence to convey the involvement of these persons,” he said.

Saeed heads the Jamaat-ud-Dawa, a front organisation of the LeT blamed by India for the attacks.

Pakistan is now duty bound to arrest Saeed, CBI spokesperson Harsh Bahl said. “It is an administrative procedure and Pakistan is now obliged to arrest Hafiz Saeed and hand him to India for trial in the Mumbai attacks."

The red corner notice on Tuesday night followed the non-bailable arrest warrants by a special court in Mumbai against Saeed, Lakhvi and 20 others for their alleged roles in the 26/11 attacks.

The notice was issued after the CBI, backed by the non-bailable warrants, asked the Interpol for it.

Saeed, who was put under house arrest after the Nov 26, 2008 attacks was set free in June by a Lahore court that found insufficient evidence for his continued detention.

With Pakistan dithering over punishing the terrorists behind the Mumbai carnage, Krishna Tuesday had named Saeed as the "brain behind" the 26/11 attacks and told Pakistan that it has given enough evidence to convict the man known for his anti-Indian terror activities.

Putting Pakistan to the Saeed test, Krishna stressed that only action against such persons would convince New Delhi of Islamabad's seriousness in tackling cross-border terror.

"Whatever evidence we have gathered, in our opinion, is enough to get a conviction to a person, if it is presented through proper advocacy before a court of law," Krishna had said in a television interview.

Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao had Friday handed over to Pakistani High Commissioner Shahid Malik the latest dossier on the November 2008 terror attacks that specifically included "additional information" on Saeed, alleged mastermind of the Mumbai carnage.