Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Mohammad Saeed's son Hafiz Talha Saeed has been declared a designated terrorist by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) under the provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.
In a notification, the Union home ministry said that Hafiz Talha Saeed, 46, has been actively involved in recruitment, fund collection, and planning and executing attacks by the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) in India and Indian interests in Afghanistan.
Talha Saeed has been "actively involved in recruitment, fund collection, planning and executing attacks by LeT in India and Indian interests in Afghanistan," the notification said, it stated.
“And whereas, the central government believes that Hafiz Talha Saeed is involved in terrorism and he should be notified as a terrorist under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (37 of 1967)," the notification said.
Hafiz Saeed was the brain behind the Mumbai terror attacks of November 26, 2008, in which 166 people were killed.
He had been declared a terrorist under the same law a few years ago and is currently serving a jail term in Pakistan on terror charges.
India has been consistently seeking Hafiz Saeed's custody but Pakistan has refused to do so.
Apart from the 26/11 attacks, the LeT has been responsible for a series of deadly attacks in India, mostly in Jammu and Kashmir, in which scores of civilians and security personnel have been killed over the years.
"The Central Government believes that Hafiz Talha Saeed is involved in terrorism and Hafiz Talha Saeed should be notified as a terrorist under the said Act," said the MHA notification.
Notably, the Central Government had amended the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 in August 2019, to include the provision of designating an individual as a terrorist. Prior to this amendment, only organizations could be designated as terrorist organizations.
Following the amendment, the Ministry had designated nine individuals as designated terrorists under provisions of the UAPA Act in July 2020.
*With inputs from agencies
