Mumbai attack mastermind and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) founder Hafiz Saeed was on Wednesday sentenced to 11 years in prison by a Pakistan court in connection with two terror financing cases.
A court official confirmed to PTI that Saeed was sentenced in the two terror financing cases in Punjab province.
The anti-terrorism court or ATC had indicted Saeed and his close aides on December 11 in terror financing case in a day-to-day hearing.
The court sentenced Saeed to five and a half years and imposed a fine of Rs 15,000 in each case.
The sentences of both cases will run concurrently.
"The anti-terrorism court of Lahore accepted the plea of Saeed and his close aides seeking delay in the verdict in two concluded terror financing cases against them till the trial in other four such pending cases is complete," a court official told PTI after the hearing.
According to the petition, four other terror financing cases against Saeed, Zafar Iqbal, Yahya Aziz, Abdul Rehman Makki are pending before the same ATC.
The Counter-Terrorism Department in Pakistan registered 23 FIRs against Saeed and his accomplices on the charges of terror financing in different cities of Punjab province and arrested him on July 17.
He is being held at the Kot Lakhpat jail in Lahore.
Saeed-led JuD is believed to be the front organisation for the LeT which is responsible for carrying out the 2008 Mumbai attack that killed 166 people, including six Americans.
The US Department of the Treasury has designated Saeed as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist.
The US, since 2012, has offered a USD 10 million reward for information that brings Saeed to justice.
The sentencing follows international pressure on Pakistan to stop militant groups from collecting funds in the country and to take immediate action against those still involved in militant activities.
The Paris-based Financial Action Task Force in October decided to keep Pakistan on its 'Grey' list for failure to curb funnelling of funds to terror groups LeT, JeM and others.
If not removed off the list by April, Pakistan may move to a blacklist of countries that face severe economic sanctions, such as Iran.
(With agency inputs)