New Delhi: The government on Friday reacted sharply to the Islamabad High Court's order declaring the detention orders of LeT operations commander and 2008 Mumbai terror attack mastermind Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi void, paving way for his immediate release.
In its reaction, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said, “It is the responsibility of the Pakistan government to take all legal measures to ensure that Lakhvi does not come out of jail.”
The Home Ministry, while cautioning Pakistan to realise that “there are no good or bad terrorists,” said, “The overwhelming evidence against 2008 Mumbai attack
mastermind Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi has not been presented properly before court by Pakistani agencies:”
The statements from the Home Ministry came shortly after Justice Noorul Haq accepted 55-year-old Lakhvi's appeal filed against his third time detention orders and ordered his immediate release.
The High Court had earlier reserved its decision over the application.
Lakhvi and six others - Abdul Wajid, Mazhar Iqbal, Hamad Amin Sadiq, Shahid Jameel Riaz, Jamil Ahmed and Younis Anjum - have been charged with planning and executing the Mumbai attacks in November, 2008 that left 166 people dead.
Lakhvi, believed to be a close relative of LeT founder and Jamat-Ud Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed, was arrested in December 2008 and was indicted along with the six others on November 25, 2009 in connection with the 26/11 attack case.
The trial has been underway since 2009. He has been detained at Adiala jail for the last five years or so.
