FILE: 26/11 plotter and Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi (Press Trust of India photo)
Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, the mastermind of the Mumbai terror attacks, will remain in jail for at least a month, following a fresh detention order from the Home ministry of Punjab province in Pakistan. On Friday, the Islamabad High Court had ordered Lakhvi's release, ruling that his detention was illegal.
"The Punjab government today issued the order of Lakhvi's detention under Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) for a period of 30 days. He will remain detained at the Adiala Jail where he is currently under custody in the Mumbai attack case," a Home Department official of the Punjab government told Press Trust of India.
On Friday, India had summoned Pakistani envoy Abdul Basit to convey its outrage over Lakhvi's release following High Court's order.
"If such a person, who is also a designated international terrorist by the United Nations, is released it will pose a threat that cannot be ignored," Syed Akbaruddin, Spokesperson, Ministry of External Affairs said.
India said it was Pakistan's responsibility to take all legal measures to ensure that Lakhvi didn't come out of jail.
Later in the evening, Pakistan summoned Indian Deputy High Commissioner JP Singh over what it said was an "unnecessary hype" over the issue. Sources said that Pakistan's Foreign Office told Mr Singh that India should not interfere in their judicial process.
Lakhvi, a top commander of the banned terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba, has been in jail since 2009 over the attacks in Mumbai a year before, in which 166 people were killed.
India had summoned the Pakistani envoy in December last year when Lakhvi was granted bail by an anti-terror court just two days after a terror attack on a school in Peshawar in which over 140 people, mostly students, were killed.
The court had then said that it did not have evidence to prove his involvement in what was worst-ever terror attack on Indian soil.
Lakhvi is one of seven people on trial in Pakistan for the siege of Mumbai. India has repeatedly warned Pakistan that the glacial pace of the trial is unacceptable and undermines Pakistan's stated position on checking terrorism.
Indian investigators have submitted voice samples and other evidence that reveal Lakhvi talking on satellite phones to the 10 terrorists who sailed into Mumbai and attacked its most famous landmarks.