Govt appalled, says Pak not serious about terror

New Delhi: India on Tuesday expressed its disappointment over the release of Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) founder Hafiz Saeed by a Pakistani court, saying it raised questions about Islamabad's sincerity in investigating the 26/11 Mumbai mayhem that New Delhi has blamed on the terror group.

"We are unhappy that Pakistan has not shown the degree of seriousness it should to bring to justice the perpetrators of the crime," Home Minister P Chidambaram said soon after the Lahore High Court delivered its verdict.

"We are disappointed at the release of Hafiz Saeed," External Affairs Ministry Spokesman Vishnu Prakash said in a statement.

Noting that Saeed headed the Jamaat-ud Dawa (JuD) and the LeT, organisations listed by the UN as being affiliates of the al-Qaeda and the Taliban, Prakash said, "Hafiz Saeed is specifically listed as linked to these terrorist groups.”

"It is regrettable that notwithstanding this background and the international obligations it entails on Pakistan, he has been released," the spokesman said.

Pointing out that Saeed, the LeT and the JuD "have a long and well established background of planning and launching terrorist acts against India", Prakash said, "His professed ideology and public statements leave no doubt as to his terrorist inclinations.”

"His release raises serious doubts over Pakistan's sincerity in acting with determination against terrorist groups and individuals operating from its territory," Prakash added.

"These actions by Pakistan raise questions about sincerity of Pakistan's investigations into the conspiracy that planned, launched and executed the terrorist attack on Mumbai in which hundreds of innocent Indian and foreign nationals lost their lives. Pakistan is yet to report the progress of the investigations that it had committed to undertake into that conspiracy," the spokesman informed.

Citing insufficient evidence, the Lahore High Court on Tuesday freed Saeed from house arrest, his lawyer said.

Saeed was detained last December after the United Nations declared the JuD as a terrorist group.

He was originally detained for one month and this had been successively extended. On May 5, his detention was extended by 60 days.

Ajmal Kasab, the lone terrorist captured alive during the Mumbai terror attack, has admitted to being a Pakistani national and to being trained by the LeT for the Mumbai attacks.