Hafiz Saeed

Islamabad, Sept. 22: Hafiz Mohammed Saeed is “in custody” of Pakistani authorities, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has said a day after Islamabad confined the alleged Mumbai attacks mastermind to his home in Lahore.

Gilani, however, did not clarify whether Saeed was under arrest (or house arrest). Officials had yesterday merely said the 59-year-old’s movements had been “restricted”.

Asked if Saeed was under arrest, Gilani replied in Urdu: “The interior ministry can tell you the actual position but I believe he is in custody.”

He added: “A decision on his case will be taken on the basis of laws and evidence.”

A senior security official told The Telegraph the purpose of restricting Saeed’s movements was to prevent him from making any adverse statement before the Indian and Pakistani foreign ministers met in New York on September 27. Islamabad wants Delhi to restart the composite peace process.

Observers said it was significant that the latest cases against Saeed — for making hate speeches — that led to the current restrictions were registered under the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1997.

Saeed had been put under house arrest last December, shortly after the Mumbai attacks, under the less-stringent Maintenance of Public Order law. A Pakistani court had released him in June saying the government had never presented any evidence against him.

No written order has yet been issued to detain Saeed or restrict his movements, but the chief of the banned Jamaat-ud-Dawa — a front for the militant outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba — remained under virtual house arrest today.