A Pakistani court on Wednesday indicted Hafiz Saeed, the mastermind of deadly 2008 attacks in Mumbai, on terror financing charges, according to reports.
The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) of the Punjab Police on July 17 registered 23 FIRs against Saeed and his accomplices on the charges of "terror financing" in different cities of Punjab province and arrested the Jammat-ud-Dawah (JuD) chief.
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The indictment came ahead of a world financial watchdog meeting early in 2020 to decide whether to blacklist Pakistan on failure to curb terror financing.
The charges were read while Saeed was present in the court.
However, like the previous hearings, journalists were not allowed to enter the court premises to cover the proceedings.
Jammat-ud-Dawah chief Hafiz Saeed is currently detained at the Kot Lakhpat jail in Pakistan.
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The cases against him have been registered in Lahore, Gujranwala and Multan for collection of funds for terror financing through assets/properties made and held in the names of Trusts/Non-Profit Organisations (NPO).
"These suspects made assets from funds of terrorism financing. They held & used these assets to raise more funds for further terrorism financing. Hence, they committed multiple offences of terrorism financing and money laundering under the Anti Terrorism Act, 1997. They will be prosecuted in ATCs for commission of these offences," the CTD said.
ATC Judge Arshad Hussain Bhutta directed the prosecution to produce witnesses and adjourned the hearing till Thursday.
Pakistan's counter-terrorism police arrested Saeed in July 2019.
Saeed is the founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a terror group blamed by the United States and India for the four-day Mumbai siege, in which 160 people were killed. The dead also included several foreigners, including Americans.
(With PTI, Dawn inputs)