Pak arrests militant leader involved in Kashmir

Pakistani police have placed Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, the alleged mastermind of coordinated attacks on the Indian city of Mumbai in 2008 that killed more than 160 people, under house arrest in the eastern city of Lahore.

Saeed was taken into custody at the headquarters for Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), the religious charity he heads, late on Monday, a spokesperson said.

"He has been arrested, and he is being taken in police custody to his home," Nadeem Awan told reporters.

Awan added that dozens of JuD supporters were accompanying the police convoy to Saeed's home.

In 2012, the US placed a $10m bounty for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Saeed, who is also the founder of armed group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

Saeed has long since distanced himself from LeT, which has claimed responsibility for several attacks on Indian security forces and civilians, saying he now only runs JuD as a charity. 

The United Nations and the United States, however, list JuD as a front for LeT. Both organisations, in addition to Saeed as an individual, remain under international sanctions.

Saeed has been accused by both the US and India of masterminding the 2008 Mumbai attacks, which killed 166 people in attacks across India's largest city.

LeT has been banned as a "terrorist" organisation by Pakistan since 2002. In 2008, JuD was listed by Pakistan under a list of organisations subject to UN sanctions, including an assets freeze, arms embargo and international travel ban.

The group continues to work openly across Pakistan, however, running a network of seminaries, releasing several publications and carrying out widespread humanitarian aid work.

"We have never broken any laws of this country. If they have a legal order, then we will follow the law, and the doors of the court are available to us to seek justice," said Awan, shortly before Saeed's detention.

Four other men - Abdullah Ubaid, Zafar Iqbal, Abdur Rehman Abid and Qazi Kashif Niaz - are also to be detained under the government's detention orders, local media reported, citing copies and footage of the detention orders.

The men are being detained under Section 11-EEE of Pakistan's Anti-Terrorism Act, which gives the government the power to arrest or detain "terrorism" suspects for up to 12 months. 

Protest in Pak capital

Meanwhile, After media reports that action was expected against Jamaatud Dawa (JuD), its Islamabad chapter on Monday held a protest demonstration against any move to ban the party.

The protest held outside the National Press Club was against reports that JuD was likely to be placed in the list of banned groups.

"All this is being done by the new US president to please the rightwing extremist ruling party in India," Shafeequr Rehman, the head of JuD Islamabad, told the protest gathering.

He said there was no proof of JuD's involvement in any illegal activity, adding it was operating one of the best organised philanthropist groups of the country, Falah-i-Isaniyat Foundation (FIF). Similar protests were also held across the country against the possible ban on the party.