Lahore: Anti-Terrorism Courts in Pakistan’s Punjab province Monday handed over prison terms of five years to each of the 12 members of the banned Jamat-ud-Dawah (JuD) and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) on charges of terrorism financing.
According to the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) of Punjab Police, JuD and JeM members were arrested a while back and presented before anti-terrorism courts of different districts of Punjab for trial.
“The Anti-Terrorsim Court (ATC) sentenced four leaders of JuD – Asghar Ali, Junaid Irshad, Ijaz Ahmad of Rawalpindi and Abdul Khaliq – five years of imprisonment each with additional fines,” the CTD said in a statement here Monday.
JuD, led by Hafiz Saeed, is believed to be the front organisation for Lashkar-e-Taiba(LeT). It was declared a foreign terrorist organisation by the US in June 2014. The LeT was responsible for the Mumbai terror attacks.
The CTD statement said that eight local leaders of JeM — Iftikhar Ahmad, Mohammad Ajmal, Bilal Makki, Abrar Ahmad and Irfan Ahmad of Gujranwala; Hafeezullah, Mazhar Nawaz and Abdul Latif of Rawalpindi — were also convicted by ATCs for a term of five years.
The JeM recently claimed responsibility for the February 14 Pulwama attack in Jammu and Kashmir that left 40 CRPF personnel dead, increasing tensions between India and Pakistan.
The CTD recently launched a crackdown on terror financing across the Punjab province — which is considered to be a stronghold of JuD and JeM.
The Pak government had since April arrested over 100 members of banned orgaisation including JeM chief Masood Azhar’s son and brother. The government had also taken control of JeM, Haifiz Saeed’s JuD and Falahai Insaniat Foundation (FIF) properties across the country following immense international pressure built up after Pulwama attack. The government termed the action in accordance with the National Action Plan and to meet the obligations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
PTI