Terrorist Hafiz Saeed was reportedly placed under house arrest in Lahore last night. (AFP)
A day after Pakistan said Hafiz Saeed, the architect of the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai, has been placed under house arrest, Delhi has said that more needs to be done by Islamabad if it wants to prove its commitment to fighting terrorism.
"Exercises such as yesterday's orders against Hafiz Saeed and others have been carried out by Pakistan in the past also. Only a credible crack down on the mastermind of the Mumbai terrorist attack and terrorist organizations involved in cross border terrorism would be proof of Pakistan's sincerity," said a statement from the Ministry of External Affairs.
The detention of Saeed in Lahore late last night follows action by the US administration of President Donald Trump aimed at countries deemed linked to terrorism, and Pakistani officials have implied that the fear of similar action against Pakistan was a factor in the action against Saeed, who founded the deadly Lashkar-e-Taiba or LeT terror group that attacked Mumbai's landmarks in 2008, leaving 166 people dead.
There has been no official comment yet from the Pakistani government.
Saeed was collected by the police at the headquarters of the Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), which calls itself a charity but is a well-known front for the Lashkar and is accepted as such by the United Nations. Shortly before dawn on Tuesday, police took him to his house. Saeed blamed the rapport between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump for his detention. "This is taking place because of Modi's insistence, Trump's pressure and Pakistan's helplessness," Saeed told media late on Monday as he was being led away, according to news agency Reuters.
Despite a $10 million award on offer from the US for information leading to his arrest, Saeed roams the streets of Pakistan and frequently makes anti-India speeches. India has been demanding action against him since the attack on Mumbai by 10 gunmen from Pakistan, who infiltrated the city by boat. Saeed was put under house arrest after that deadly terror strike, but was released about six months later in June 2009.