Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

2008 Mumbai terror attack mastermind Sajid Mir quietly jailed in Pakistan

Pakistan media reports said Mir’s court verdict was done so quietly that no one came to know about such a high-profile case, except for a very brief report in one of the newspapers.

2008 Mumbai terror attack mastermind Sajid Mir quietly jailed in Pakistan

An anti-terror court in Pakistan has quietly sentenced the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attack mastermind and a senior member of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Sajid Mir.

Mir, who is among India's most wanted for his role in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, was awarded 15 years in jail term. Mir was LeT's operations manager for the attacks, playing a leading role in their planning, preparation, and execution.


Mir, 44, was sentenced to Anti-terrorism court in Lahore this month after convicting him in a terror-financing case. He was also fined Pkr 4,20,000 and is currently serving sentence in Kot Lakhpat jail, the Dawn newspaper reported citing a source.

As many as 10 individuals trained by LeT, carried out a series of coordinated terrorist attacks against multiple targets in Mumbai, killing 166 people. For his role in the Mumbai attacks, Mir was also indicted in the United States in April 2011.

His sentencing comes as Pakistan is struggling to exit the Financial Action Task Force's (FATF) terror-financing watchlist. Currently, Pakistan is on the 'Grey List' of the watchdog for not fulfilling the parameters to counter terrorism in the country.

Pakistan media reports said Mir's court verdict was done so quietly that no one came to know about such a high-profile case, except for a very brief report in one of the newspapers, which too could not attract the attention.

Even his detention was kept away from the media's eyes, the report added.

Earlier, Mir was believed to have died but when the western countries demanded proof of his death, this issue became a major sticking point in the assessment of FATF's action plan last year.

"Sajid Mir was LeT's operations manager for the attacks, playing a leading role in their planning, preparation, and execution.

Beginning from November 26, 2008, and continuing through November 29, 2008, 10 individuals were trained by LeT, who carried out the series of terrorist attacks in Mumbai, killing 166 persons, including six Americans," said Reward For Justice, US State Department's counterterrorism rewards program.

Pakistan's response to the Mumbai attacks has been a series of about-turns.

The country has failed to take adequate steps to counter-terrorism and prosecute terrorists including masterminds of the 2008 Mumbai attacks such as Jaish-e-Mohammed (JEM) founder Masood Azhar and LeT's Sajid Mir, according to an earlier US report.

Pakistan made limited progress on the most difficult aspects of its 2015 National Action Plan to counter-terrorism, specifically in its pledge to dismantle all terrorist organizations without delay or discrimination," the US State Department had said in its 2020 Country Reports on Terrorism.

The report recalled how in 2021, a Lahore anti-terrorism court convicted LeT founder Hafiz Saeed on multiple counts of terrorism financing and sentenced him to five years and six months in prison.

"Pakistan did not, however, take steps under its domestic authorities to prosecute other terrorist leaders residing in Pakistan, such as JeM founder Masood Azhar and LeT's Sajid Mir, mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai attacks," it had said.

The report goes on the mention the effectiveness of Indian security agencies in disrupting terror threats, although gaps remain in interagency intelligence and information sharing.

(ANI)

More For You

Indian restaurant loses licence after Home Office catches illegal workers

Mumbai Local has been stripped of its licence by Harrow council. (Photo: LDRS/Google Maps)

Indian restaurant loses licence after Home Office catches illegal workers

AN INDIAN restaurant in north London has lost its licence after it was found to have repeatedly employed illegal workers.

Harrow council determined that the evidence suggested that using illegal workers was a “systemic approach” to running the premises and it had a “lack of trust” in the business to comply with the law.

Keep ReadingShow less
Trump sees Modi, Putin closer to Xi, but insists US-India ties intact

FILE PHOTO: US president Donald Trump meets with Indian prime minister Narendra Modi at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 13, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Trump sees Modi, Putin closer to Xi, but insists US-India ties intact

US PRESIDENT Donald Trump said India and Russia seem to have been "lost" to China after their leaders met with Chinese president Xi Jinping this week, expressing his annoyance at New Delhi and Moscow as Beijing pushes a new world order.

"Looks like we've lost India and Russia to deepest, darkest, China. May they have a long and prosperous future together!" Trump wrote in a social media post accompanying a photo of the three leaders together at Xi's summit in China.

Keep ReadingShow less
Farage pledges Reform UK election push as Tories, Labour falter

Nigel Farage gestures as he speaks during the party's national conference at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, Britain, September 5, 2025. REUTERS/Isabel Infantes

Farage pledges Reform UK election push as Tories, Labour falter

POPULIST leader Nigel Farage vowed to start preparing for government, saying the nation's two main parties were in meltdown and only his Reform UK could ease the anger and despair plaguing the country to "make Britain great again".

To a prolonged standing ovation by a crowd at the annual party conference on Friday (5), Farage for the first time offered a vision of how Britain would be under a Reform government: He pledged to end the arrival of illegal migrants in boats in two weeks, bring back "stop-and-search" policing and scrap net zero policies.

Keep ReadingShow less
Shabana Mahmood

Newly appointed home secretary Shabana Mahmood arrives at Number 10 at Downing Street as Keir Starmer holds a cabinet reshuffle on September 5, 2025. (Photo: Getty Images)

Shabana Mahmood named home secretary, Lammy deputy to Starmer in major reshuffle

Highlights:

  • David Lammy becomes deputy prime minister while keeping foreign affairs brief
  • Angela Rayner resigned after admitting underpaid property tax
  • Lisa Nandy to stay on as culture secretary
  • Reshuffle marks first major shake-up of Starmer’s government

SHABANA MAHMOOD has been appointed home secretary in a major reshuffle of prime minister Keir Starmer’s cabinet following the resignation of deputy prime minister Angela Rayner.

Keep ReadingShow less
Epping protests

The protests outside the Bell Hotel in Epping triggered a series of demonstrations across the country during heightened tensions over immigration. (Photo: Getty Images)

Asylum seeker convicted of sex assaults case that led to protests

AN ETHIOPIAN asylum seeker, whose arrest in July led to protests outside a hotel near London where he and other migrants were housed, has been found guilty of sexually assaulting a teenage girl and another woman.

The protests outside the Bell Hotel in Epping, about 20 miles (30 km) from London, triggered a series of demonstrations across the country during heightened tensions over immigration.

Keep ReadingShow less