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26/11 plotter to walk free? Islamabad court suspends detention order against Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi

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Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi

Islamabad: The Islamabad High Court on Monday suspended the detention of 26/11 accused Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi.

Key planner of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, Lakhvi was granted bail by an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) on December 18.

ATC judge Syed Kausar Abbas Zaidi, who had granted bail to Lakhvi, in his written order said that the evidence against 54-year-old accused was based on the statements of the officials of the Crime Investigation Department (CID), which apparently were ‘insufficient’ to refuse him bail.

The order issued for the release of Lakhvi said: “As per the contents of the FIR, the occurrence took place in November 2008 whereas the report was lodged on February 2, 2009.”

The main evidence on the basis of which Lakhvi was charged in the case was the confessional statement of Ajmal Kasab, who has been executed in an Indian jail on November 21, 2012, the order said.

The court order stated that “the statements of five CID inspectors were held to be relevant against the accused/petitioner.”

The decision to grant bail to Lakhvi drew sharp criticism from India and surprised many for its timing, just days after Taliban massacred 148 people, mostly school children, in Peshawar.

Lakhvi and six other accused – 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 that took place on November 26, 2008, and left 166 people dead. The trial has been underway since 2009.

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