26/11 Mumbai terror attack trial: Another LeT suspect released on bail in Pakistan due to lack of evidence

Lahore: Sufayan Zafar, a Lashker-e-Taiba suspect in the 2008 Mumbai terror attack case, has been released on bail by a Pakistani anti-terrorism court due to ’lack of evidence’ against him, a court official said on Thursday. The prime suspect in the case, LeT operations commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, is already out on bail since April 2015. [caption id=“attachment_3809573” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of smoke and fire billowing of the Taj Hotel in Mumbai November 27, 2008. Reuters[/caption] “Former LeT militant Sufayan Zafar who was arrested last year for his alleged involvement in 26/11 attack has been freed on bail. The ATC which held the hearing at Adiala Jail Rawalpindi recently has granted Zafar bail as no evidence against him was found during the investigation,” a court official told PTI. The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) told the court that it had found ’no evidence’ against Zafar during the investigation, therefore, his involvement in the case cannot be established, the official said. Zafar is accused of providing Rs 3.98 million to co-accused Shahid Jameel Riaz prior to the attack. He also deposited Rs 14,800 to the bank account of his brother (another suspect in the case). He was declared a proclaimed offender in the Mumbai attack case in 2009. He was arrested in August last year from his hideout in Kyber-Pakhtaunkhawa province. A resident of Gujrawala district of Punjab, some 80km from Lahore, Zafar was among 21 other (absconding) suspects wanted in this high-profile case. Six other suspects in the case, Abdul Wajid, Mazhar Iqbal, Hammad Amin Sadiq, Shahid Jameel Riaz, Jamil Ahmed and Younus Anjum have been lodged in Rawalpindi’s Adiyala Jail since 2009 for abetment to murder, attempted murder, planning and executing the Mumbai attack. A total of 166 people were killed in the attack carried out by 10 LeT men. Nine terrorists who carried out the attack were killed while lone survivor Ajmal Kasab was captured alive and later executed in 2012 in Pune.