Pakistani anti-terror court sentences Hafiz Saeed to over 15 years in jail

Agencies

December 25, 2020

Islamabad, Dec 25: A Pakistani anti-terrorism court has sentenced Hafiz Saeed, the leader of the banned Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) who mastermind of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, to more than 15 years in prison after he was convicted in another case, a media report said on Friday.

Verdicts of three cases against Saeed, who been behind bars since last year, have already been pronounced, whereas several others against JuD leaders are pending with the ATCs, according to The Express Tribune report.

Besides Saeed, ATC Judge Ijaz Ahmed Buttar also handed down punishments to Hafiz Abdul Salam, Zafar Iqbal, Muhammad Ashraf and Yahya Mujahid to 15 years and six-month imprisonment, whereas a six-month imprisonment was handed down to Hafiz Abdul Rehman Makki, the report quoted details issued by the JuD as saying.

Besides the prison terms, all those convicted will also have to pay a fine of 200,000 PKR each, the banned outfit added.

The latest verdict came after Saeed and three others were convicted by an ATC on November 19 in two separate terror-financing cases.

In the November verdict, the court also forfeited property possessed by Saeed, besides imposing a fine of 110,000 PKR.

In September, the Interior Ministry had informed the Senate that the federal government had frozen a total of 964 properties belonging to the JuD and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM).

On February 12, Saeed was convicted in the two cases and sent to jail for five-and-a-half years.

Banned by the UN Security Council after the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, Saeed faces 23 terror cases in Pakistan alone.

Pakistan filed charges against him only after Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global watchdog for terror funding and money laundering put the country under 'grey list'.

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Chaos in Bangkok: Indian family's frantic escape as earthquake strikes

News Network

March 28,2025

When the ground violently shook beneath his feet, Prem Kishore Mohanty, an Indian expatriate in Bangkok, was attending his five-year-old daughter's school sports day. What began as a routine event—children competing, parents cheering—quickly turned into a moment of panic as tremors struck.

"I felt my head spinning and had to sit down. The overhead lights swayed, and chairs moved," said Mr. Mohanty, 44. The school's PA system quickly announced an emergency evacuation, directing everyone to the outdoor field while warning against using nearby lanes lined with high-rise towers.

Water from rooftop swimming pools, including those at the InterContinental Bangkok, cascaded down buildings, as captured in viral videos.

Fear and Chaos as Bangkok Shakes
The 7.7-magnitude earthquake, with its epicenter in Myanmar, sent powerful tremors into Thailand, bringing Bangkok to an abrupt standstill. Public transport was suspended, traffic snarled, and people evacuated buildings, waiting anxiously for the all-clear.

Earthquakes are rare in Bangkok, a city more accustomed to heat and monsoons than seismic shocks. For the Mohanty family, who live in a high-rise apartment in Sukhumvit, confusion and fear gripped them as the evacuation began.

"It was terrifying. We were told to take the fire escape stairwell and wait outside. There was no time to think," Mr. Mohanty recalled.

Now safe, he remains shaken by the unexpected jolt that turned a normal day into a moment of chaos for his family and thousands across the city.

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