NEW DELHI: Pakistan's claim that it had "arrested" 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed in connection with the Mumbai terror attacks has turned to be incorrect as the Lashkar-e-Taiba chief was picked up for unrelated cases and Islamabad hoodwinked India by concealing these facts.
Indian officials belatedly realized that they were taken for a ride when they examined documents given to them on Saeed by the delegation led by Pakistani interior minister Rehman Malik that was recently in India.
"We had been given to understand by the interior minister of Pakistan that Mr Hafiz Saeed had been arrested on the charges of being a part of the conspiracy for the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks," home minister Sushilkumar Shinde told Parliament on Monday.
"From the papers given to us, it is clear that the detentions of Shri Hafiz Saeed in the aforesaid cases were for other reasons and not for his role as a conspirator in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. Therefore, I can only say that Rehman Malik appears to have been misinformed in the matter," Shinde added.
The home minister, incidentally, referred to Saeed in Parliament using honorifics like 'Mr' and 'Shri' that prompted BJP leaders to object to the courtesies being shown to a terror accused.
The documents -- including FIRs against Saeed and Pakistani court orders exonerating him -- show the Lashkar chief was arrested once in 2002 and twice in 2009. Even the two FIRs against him registered post-26/11 do not mention anything in connection with the Mumbai terror attacks.
The two FIRs were registered in Faisalabad when the UN Security Council passed a resolution banning the Saeed-led Jamaat-ud-Dawa after categorizing it as a terror organization. The cases were dismissed by the Lahore High Court because the Punjab (Pakistan) assembly did not ratify the UN resolution. The court went by the Punjab assembly's stand.
The documents, shared for the first time with India, also show that the court took note of local media reports saying LeT did not exist in 2002 as evidence in dismissing the case against Saeed. The Pakistan government did not take a stand on any of the three cases and did not appeal the orders. The first time, Saeed was taken into preventive custody while there was no follow-up action on his second arrest. In the third arrest, he was let off by court which found faults in the FIR.
The portion nailing Pakistan's lie over Saeed was originally not part of Shinde's statement which was prepared on Sunday night. Rajya Sabha MPs got the additional page only after the home minister read it. Usually, papers comprising a written statement are distributed to MPs while the minister is either reading it or is about to read.
Officials in the home ministry said the Pakistani delegation handed over documents on Saeed to them only before it headed for Delhi airport for its return journey on Sunday evening. After examining the papers on Monday morning, officials realized how they had been misled by Islamabad.
The fudge is not surprising as Saeed is feted by Pakistan's military establishment and the government is not inclined to act against him.
Shinde also said, "During my talks with him (Malik), he stated that if we desire, he will give us the FIRs and the judgments pertaining to the three occasions when Hafiz Saeed was arrested and let off by the courts. When we pursued this matter, they have given us papers pertaining to the detentions of Saeed in 2002 and 2009."
Officials believe misrepresenting facts on earlier occasions might have been done by Pakistan deliberately as it does not want to appear to be taking action against Saeed who is a key figure in the country's ISI-LeT nexus for waging proxy war against India.
They said Malik gave "lame excuses" for not acting against Saeed and the Indian side believes the LeT boss will continue to roam free in Pakistan and indulge in anti-India rhetoric. The visiting delegation had also contended that there was a court ruling on a petition by Saeed's wife Memoona who had submitted that he had left LeT in 2001.
"Pakistan's intention is clear. They do not want to take action against Saeed. This is the impression that we got during talks," an official said.
Shinde nails Pak lie on Hafiz Saeed's arrest in 26/11 case
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Shinde nails Pak lie on Hafiz Saeed's arrest in 26/11 case
