New information about Mir came to the fore only after key Western countries put substantial pressure on Islamabad to provide proof of the LeT terrorist’s death.
Sajid Mir, the chief planner of the November 26, 2008 (26/11) terrorist attacks in Mumbai was once presumed dead. The Pakistani authorities have informed Western interlocutors that Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) operative Sajid Mir, one of the key figures behind the 2008 Mumbai attacks, was arrested and sentenced to eight years in prison earlier this year, people with knowledge of the case said on Friday.
Interestingly, the Pakistani establishment had earlier said that Sajid Mir alias Sajid Majid “died” a while ago. Indian intelligence agencies, who have held Mir to be more dangerous than Lashkar chief Hafiz Saeed, have been aware of the arrest for a while now, sources said. A forensic audit as well as details regarding Mir’s time of death and the place where he died were requested.
Strangely, Pakistan has said that Jaish-e-Muhammad chief Maulana Masood Azhar, who is enjoying the patronage of the Pakistani establishment in his den Bahawalpur, is untraceable. The claims by Islamabad come at a time when it is trying hard to escape the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). The anti-terror watchdog has said that Pakistan will be removed from the grey list if the onsite inspection verifies whether steps were taken by it to curb terror financing and money laundering are ‘sustainable’ and ‘irreversible’.
The FBI has designated Mir as a ‘most wanted’ terrorist. Its charges against him include conspiracy to injure foreign government property, providing material support to terrorists, killing a citizen outside the US, aiding and abetting, and bombing places of public use.
Among the 166 people killed in the Mumbai attacks, six were Americans. The FBI has put a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Mir. Indian intelligence agencies believe him to be “the most dangerous man in Pakistan”.
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) brought up the matter when it evaluated Pakistan’s efforts to curb terror financing, including its investigation of and prosecution of key LeT leaders, according to the people familiar with the development.
Sajid Mir is wanted for his alleged involvement in the 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai. In addition to placing him on their most-wanted list, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which is the United States domestic intelligence service, has offered a USD 5 million reward for his capture.
Mir helped direct preparations and reconnaissance for the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), the Pakistani terrorist group that carried out the attacks with the help and support of the ISI. He was one of the Pakistan-based controllers of the terrorists who were in Mumbai.
He recruited Dawood Gilani alias David Coleman Headley, a Pakistani-American and an FBI/Drug Enforcement Authority informer, and planned the Mumbai attacks with the help of Pakistani military officers who were named in FIRs and court documents. When he was arrested by US authorities, Headley had named Mir and a Major Iqbal, who he described as an ISI officers, as the others involved in the attacks.
Mir sent Headley to Mumbai to observe targets before the attacks, helped train terrorists, and gave them instructions over the phone as the attack unfolded, particularly the one at Nariman House where six Jewish residents were killed. The FBI issued an arrest warrant against him on April 22, 2011.
According to the people, Pakistani authorities informed Western interlocutors prior to the last FATF meeting in Berlin, which occurred between June 14-17, that Mir had been arrested in April and sentenced to eight years in prison following a trial.
