lakhvi release: India summons Pak envoy, lodges strong protest

An "extremely upset" India today summoned the Pakistan High Commissioner here and lodged a strong protest against a Pakistani court order to release leT terrorist and Mumbai attack mastermind Zakiur Rehman lakhvi, saying it was Islamabad's responsibility to ensure that lakhvi does not come out of jail.

The officiating Foreign Secretary Anil Wadhwa summoned Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit to South Block and conveyed India's unhappiness over the order in strong words. Wadhwa is officiating as the Foreign Secretary in absence of S Jaishankar, who is travelling with the Prime Minister.

The matter was also "raised at high levels" in Pakistan through Indian High Commission, official sources said. Blaming Pakistan for the Islamabad High Court order to release lakhvi, Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju told reporters that Islamabad did not produce the evidence against him despite having enough of it.

"Pakistan did not present the evidence before the court...The way the case has been handled by Pakistani agencies. Our concern is Pakistan should deal with terrorists in a manner in which the whole global community is looking at," Rijiju said, adding "There is no bad or good terrorists, a fact which has been globally accepted".

India's reaction came within hours of the Islamabad High Court declaring as void the detention order of the leT operations commander lakhvi, who was also the 2008 Mumbai terror attack mastermind, and ordering his immediate release.

A Home Ministry spokesperson said the overwhelmingevidence against lakhvi regarding his role in the criminal conspiracy leading to the Mumbai attack has not been properly presented in the Pakistani court by Pakistani agencies.

"This should be ensured without delay," the spokesperson said. lakhvi and six others - Abdul Wajid, Mazhar Iqbal, Hamad Amin Sadiq, Shahid Jameel Riaz, Jamil Ahmed and Younis Anjum - have been charged with planning and executing the Mumbai attacks in November, 2008 that left 166 people dead.

India has been raising its concerns over the delay in convicting perpetrators of Mumbai terror attacks. The issue was raised by Foreign Secretary Jaishankar during his meeting with his Pakistan counterpart Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry in Islamabad recently

Pak court declares lakhvi's detention illegal; orders his release

The Islamabad High Court on Friday declared the detention orders of Zakiur Rehman lakhvi, the alleged mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai attack, as illegal and ordered his immediate release, a media report said.

Justice Noorul Haq accepted lahvi's appeal filed against his third time detention orders and ordered his release, Dawn online reported. lakhvi, along with six other suspects, was in detention since February 2009. He is accused of being the mastermind of the November 2008 Mumbai attack in which 166 people were killed.

The Pakistani government took lakhvi and other suspects into custody in February 2009 over charges of "facilitating" the attack. A First Information Report (FIR) was filed against lakhvi and the six other alleged abettors in 2009, the report added. India and some other countries took strong exception to granting bail to lakhvi, only a couple of days after the December 16 terrorist attack on Army Public School, Peshawar last year.

The Islamabad High Court on December 29 suspended the detention order, but the Supreme Court on January 7 restored lakhvi's detention. The six other men facing trial in Adiala Jail for their alleged involvement are: Hammad Amin Sadiq, Shahid Jamil Riaz, Younas Anjum, Jamil Ahmed, Mazhar Iqbal and Abdul Majid.

At the time of the attack, lakhvi was believed to be the operational head of the banned laskhar-e-Taiba (leT) that has been accused by India of carrying out the attack in India's financial capital.