No hard life in jail: 26/11 accused Lakhvi met friends, fathered a child in prison

An outraged India on Thursday told Pakistan that release of LeT commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, one of the key conspirators of the Mumbai terror attacks, on bail was unacceptable to it and demanded immediate steps for reversal of the decision. In a sharp reaction to the bail granted to 54-year-old UN-designated terrorist by a Rawalpindi court, New Delhi told Islamabad that there could be no selective approach to terrorism, emphasising that it should realise that no compromise can ever be made with terrorists. [caption id=“attachment_1856691” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Top LeT commander Zaki-Ur-Rehman Lakhvi. Reuters[/caption] But Lakhvi’s life in prison, was no hard one. He may be on the UN’s most wanted list, but in jail he led a luxurious life for an accused in India’s worst terror attack. He was reportedly allowed regular ‘outings’ to visit his family and friends and was also allowed visitors, many of whom came to seek advice from the terrorist. According to reports, Lakhvi even fathered a child during his jail period. This information was given to the NIA by co-accused Abu Jundal, who was packed off to Saudi Arabia by his handlers in the Pakistani establishment in the wake of the international heat generated by the terror attacks, HT reports. “Lakhvi’s “cell” in Adiala Jail is a well-appointed suite with all modern facilities, including a television set. He has access to newspapers and moves within the jail without any restrictions. “He is kept in good humour by the jailors and prison staff, under what the security agencies believe are standing instructions from Pakistani state agencies like the ISI,” a senior intelligence officer told TOI. “We cannot accept that LeT’s chief operation commander Zakiur Lakhvi, one of the key conspirators of the Mumbai terror attacks in which so many innocent people were slaughtered, a person designated as an international terrorist by the UNSC, is being released on bail,” External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said. “We call upon the government of Pakistan to immediately take steps to reverse this decision. There can be no selective approaches to terrorism. Given the scale of the tragedy that Pakistan itself has faced in recent days, it is incumbent on it to realise that no compromise can ever be made with terrorists,” the official spokesperson said. Noting that the release comes just two days after the dastardly terrorist attack on a school in Peshawar, where over a hundred children were purposefully and systematically butchered in the name of revenge, he said the grant of bail to Lakhvi will serve as a reassurance to terrorists who perpetrate heinous crimes. Terming the order for release by an Anti-Terrorism court in Rawalpindi as “very unfortunate” as it came just two days after the terror attack in Peshawar where over 130 school children were killed, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh hoped that the Pakistan government will approach a higher court and ensure its cancellation. “There might be be some laxity on the part of the Pakistan government somewhere or could be due to some other reasons (the bail was granted),” he said at a hurriedly-called press briefing. Singh said India had pursued the Mumbai attacks case meticulously and that resulted in fast trial and delivery of justice to the case with the hanging of one of the terrorists Ajmal Kasab. “But it is not happening in Pakistan. We have given enough evidence against the terrorists,” he said. “I hope that the Pakistan government will appeal in a higher court so that Lakhvi’s bail is cancelled,” he added. Ujjwal Nikam, Public prosecutor in the Mumbai terror attack case, termed as a “setback” the order and asked Pakistani authorities to ensure it is cancelled. “It is really a big setback as with Lakhvi on bail prosecution witnesses will not like to come forward and give evidence,” he said. “If Pakistan wants to fight terrorism, they should fight terrorism emanating from inside first of all because this problem has been cropping up there for a long time. The Peshawar incident shook the world,” Nikam said. “The Pakistani authorities should move a higher court for cancellation of the bail because Hafiz Saeed (LeT founder) and Lakhvi are the real terrorists (behind the Mumbai attack),” he said. Sources have already indicated that government was working with its mission in Pakistan to prepare a strong response to the Anti-Terrorism Court’s verdict. Lakhvi and six others had filed bail applications on Wednesday even as lawyers were observing a strike to condemn the terrorist attack on an army-run school in Peshawar that left 148 people, mostly children, dead. The FIA (Federal Investigation Agency) prosecutor disagreed with the bail request, however, advocate Rizwan Abbasi, the lawyer representing Lakhvi stood before the court as the bail was approved, the Dawn reported. The seven accused - Lakhvi, Abdul Wajid, Mazhar Iqbal, Hamad Amin Sadiq, Shahid Jameel Riaz, Jamil Ahmed and Younis Anjum - are facing trial at the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi. Lakhvi, who was the operational head of the banned Laskhar-e-Taiba, was one of the key planners of the Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people. Meanwhile, Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said Sharif take bold steps to combat terrorism and hand over India’s most wanted terrorist Hafiz Saeed and Dawood Ibrahim. “If Pakistan is serious in fighting terrorism, it should arrest Hafiz Saeed and Dawood Ibrahim and hand them over to India… I hope Nawaz Sharif will seize this opportunity to take bold steps against terrorism,” he told reporters outside Parliament. Saeed is the “chief promoter” of terrorism in the world, Naidu said, calling him “an enemy of humanity”. Who is Zaki-Ur-Rehman Lakhvi? Born in born in the Okara district of Pakistan, 54-year-old Lakhvi organised four training camps to train terrorists to launch an attack as massive as 26/11. According to a report in The Independent, American officials had said that Lakhvi, who is on NIA’s most wanted list, carried military operations in Chechnya, Bosnia, Iraq and South-east Asia. In 2009, Pakistan for the first time accepted that parts of the 26/11 attacks was plotted on Pakistani soil. Adviser to the Prime Minister Rehman Malik had announced that Lakhvi was under investigation and in custody of the Pakistani officials. In November the same year, the anti-terrorism court formally charged seven suspects, including Lakhvi, with planning and helping execute the Mumbai attacks. The Independent report quoted the officials who said that Lakhvi’s clear instruction for his operatives was to “mount attacks in well-populated areas.” The Lashkar co-founder also trained Azam Cheema — who was the plotter behind the 2006 Mumbai train bombings that killed more than 200 and left 700 injured. Ajmal Kasab, the lone survivor, had told investigators a lot about his ‘Zakki Chachu.’ “I finished two-and-a-half magazines. Don’t know how many I killed. Just kept firing. Zakki had told us to keep killing till we were alive.” Hafiz Saeed and Lakhvi divided 10 operatives in pair of five and told them about their targets in Mumbai, an article in The Indian Express noted. The control room was Karachi where Zakki Chachu watched the massacre on TV while giving instructions to his gunmen. During interrogation, Kasab implicates Lakhvi and says that he took advantage of the poor background of the recruits and lured them saying jihad would get them ‘izzat and paisa.’ Kasab had said that Lakhvi would give them motivational speeches once in a while. Kasab quoted Lakhvi at one place: “You are Muslims. You have to get rid of poverty. Look at India. They have raced ahead of us. They kill your people. You have to wage jehad against India.” With agency inputs