India has asked Pakistan to hand over Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) founder Hafiz Saeed, who is wanted in the country for several terror attacks including the 2008 assault on Mumbai, according to reports in the Pakistani media.

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The Indian demand for handing over Saeed, who was detained in 2019 by Pakistani authorities in connection with charges of terror financing, was first reported by Geo News channel on Wednesday. Saeed has been convicted and sentenced in at least five cases of terror financing since 2020, though his current whereabouts are not known.

There was no immediate word on the development from Indian officials. India has called on Pakistan several times to hand over Saeed for his role in masterminding the 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people and injured hundreds more. Saeed has never been formally charged by Pakistani authorities for his role in the Mumbai attacks.

When Pakistan foreign office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch was asked about the matter during a weekly media briefing on Thursday, she replied: “The question is based on speculative reporting. We would not like to comment on such reports.”

Saeed has been given prison terms ranging from fifteen-and-a-half years to 31 years following his conviction in the cases of terror financing. Saeed was detained in these cases following pressure from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and Western powers.

In 2012, the US offered a bounty of $10 million for Saeed. The LeT and Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD), a front for the terror group, have been banned by the US and the UN. Despite these steps taken by the world community, Saeed continued to operate freely in Pakistan and candidates from the Milli Muslim League, another front organisation of the LeT, sought to contest elections in 2018.

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The Pakistan Markazi Muslim League (PMML), a party backed by Saeed, has fielded candidates for every National Assembly constituency for Pakistan’s general election in February 2024. Among the candidates is Saeed’s son Talha Saeed, who is contesting from a parliamentary constituency in Lahore. The PMML was created after the Pakistan government banned the Milli Muslim League.