Pakistan's Punjab Govt opposes release of JuD chief Hafiz Saeed

Punjab Government has opposed the release of Jamaat-ud Dawah (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed and said he is a threat to public safety.

Punjab Home Department has said if Jamaat-ud Dawah (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed is released from detention, his activities will pose great threats to public safety and cause breach of public order, reported The Tribune.

Punjab Home Department claimed this in a report submitted before the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday in connection with a petition filed by JuD leaders, including Saeed, challenging their detention.

However, LHC judge Justice Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi adjourned hearing of the petition till Sept 19 as the JuD counsel sought time to go through the home department's report, reported The Tribune.

Saeed and other JuD leaders - Abdullah Ubaid of Faisalabad, Zafar Iqbal and Abdul Rehman Abid of Markaz-e-Tayyaba Muridke and Kashif Niazi of Multan - were placed under house arrest on Jan 30.

Saeed's banned outfit JuD, a front for Lashkar-e-Taiba, had launched the Milli Muslim League last month, but the Election Commission of Pakistan refused to register it as a political party.

He is an internationally designated terrorist even though he is influential in Pakistan among certain religious groups.

In April 2012, the United States announced a bounty of $10 million on Saeed, for his alleged role in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks in which 164 civilians were killed including 6 American citizens.

India considers him as one of its most wanted terrorists because of his alleged ties with Lashkar-e-Taiba and his alleged involvement in attacks in India such as the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, 2006 Mumbai train bombings and 2001 Indian Parliament attack .