Islamabad: Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, accused of masterminding the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai, will remain caged as the Pakistan government vowed on Friday to challenge a court’s verdict to grant him bail.
“He has been detained under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) at Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail. He can’t be freed until a decision on our appeal against the bail,” said a senior government official. An Anti-Terrorism Court ordered Lakhvi’s release after his post-arrest bail plea was accepted.
Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) prosecutor Chaudhry Mohammed Azhar said the bail order will be challenged in the Islamabad High Court on Monday. He said Lakhvi has been detained under the MPO so he will not be able to leave jail until a decision has been taken by the High Court “on our appeal.”
Lakhvi was arrested in 2009 after the sole surviving gunman, Ajmal Kasab, named him as the mastermind of the Mumbai attacks. Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has been trying to repair relations with India, which he sees as vital to kick-starting Pakistan’s sluggish economy.
The 2008 attacks, when gunmen rampaged through Mumbai for three days, sent relations into deep freeze. India blamed the attack on Pakistan-based militants and handed over intercepts to use as evidence in the Lakhvi case.
