India puts onus on Pak, says Saeed an evil mastermind of Mumbai attacks

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Monday said that it is Pakistan's duty to make sure that Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafeez Saeed, who is the prime accused in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack case, is brought to book and justice is delivered.

"To us he is the evil mastermind of Mumbai attacks, one accused in an Indian court of killings on street of Mumbai. We have repeatedly asked Pakistan that he should be apprehended, and taken through the normal judicial process. But he has never been arrested on account of 26/11 ever. Therefore, he is free only because he is a Pakistani citizen," MEA official spokesperson Syed Akbarruddin said.

"Pakistan says that we do not have any information proving his crime but the answer to that is that 99 percent of the evidence in this case is in Pakistan, that is because the entire conspiracy, the planning of this act as well as the financing for this was undertaken in Pakistan, and the people who were involved in this ghastly crime were also from Pakistan. Therefore, it is for Pakistan to make sure that justice is delivered and criminals like Saeed are brought to book," he added.

Speaking at a conference organised by Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) earlier in the day, Pakistan High Commissioner's Abdul Basit had said, "Hafiz Saeed is a Pakistan national, he is free to roam the country. What is the problem?"

Basit's statements came in response to reports that Saeed was in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK).