Pak SC lets 26/11 mastermind walk

India expressed its disappointment on Tuesday on the Pakistan Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the release of Lashkar-e-Tayyeba founder Hafiz Saeed from house arrest for want of evidence.

India expressed its disappointment on Tuesday on the Pakistan Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the release of Lashkar-e-Tayyeba founder Hafiz Saeed from house arrest for want of evidence.

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“There is disappointment, especially when we regard Hafiz Saeed as one of the masterminds of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks and he has openly urged jihad against India,” foreign secretary Nirupama Rao said.

The verdict comes as foreign minister S.M. Krishna prepares to meet his counterpart in Islamabad on July 15.

Rao said there is enough evidence against Saeed to arrest him and India has shared this with Pakistan. “Pakistan has assured us it won’t allow its territory to be used against India,” she said. “We hope Pakistan will be sensitive to our efforts.”

The BJP also joined the issue. “It is clear the Pakistani government did not furnish proper evidence given by the government of India against him, as Hafiz is an errand boy of the ISI and will spill the beans,” said Ravi Shankar Prasad.

The court on Tuesday dismissed the Pakistani government’s appeal against the Lahore High Court’s 2009 order to release Saeed from house arrest. Saeed (60) was put under house arrest in December 2008 in the wake of 26/11 and after the UN declared the JuD, the outfit he heads, a front for the Lashkar.