Hafiz Abdul Salam Bhuttavi dead: Who was the 26/11 attacks conspirator and LeT leader?

Born in August 1946 in Pattoki, Kasur district of Punjab, Bhuttavi was the co-founder of LeT and deputy to the LeT chief and 2008 Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed. Here is everything you need to know about him.

Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT) founder and mastermind of 2008 Mumbai terror attacks Hafiz Saeed in Islamabad, Pakistan. Hafiz Abdul Salam Bhuttavi was deputy to Saeed. (AP photo/File)

Hafiz Abdul Salam Bhuttavi, a founding member of Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT) and a key conspirator of the 2008 Mumbai terror attack, has been “confirmed dead”, according to a statement published by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) earlier in January. He died of cardiac arrest on May 29, 2023, in Muridke, Punjab province of Pakistan, while he was in the custody of the government, the statement added.

Earlier, a report by Press Trust of India (PTI) had said Bhuttavi passed away in a prison in Punjab province. Published on May 31 last year, the report also noted that his funeral was held in Muridke and it was attended by a large number of LeT supporters of LeT amid high security.

Who was Bhuttavi?

Born in August 1946 in Pattoki, Kasur district of Punjab, Bhuttavi was the co-founder of LeT and deputy to the LeT chief and Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed. Bhuttavi was responsible for establishing a LeT organisational base in Lahore in mid-2002.

According to the UNSC statement, he became acting chief of LeT and Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) — a humanitarian relief and religious education organisation that has been designated a front for the LeT — on at least two occasions when Saeed was detained.

“Saeed was detained days after the November 2008 Mumbai attacks and held until June 2009. Bhuttavi handled the group’s day-to-day functions during this period, and made independent decisions on behalf of the organisation. Saeed was also detained in May 2002,” the statement said.

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Bhuttavi was also a scholar who issued fatwas authorising LeT/JuD operations. He played a significant role in preparing the terrorists for the Mumbai attacks by “delivering lectures on the merits of martyrdom operations,” UNSC added.

In March 2012, the LeT leader was put on the list of designated terrorists by the UN Security Council’s ISIL (Daesh) and Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee for “participating in the financing, planning, facilitating, preparing, or perpetrating of acts or activities by, in conjunction with, under the name of, on behalf of, or in support of” or “otherwise supporting acts and activities of” LeT.

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According to the PTI report, Bhuttavi had been in prison since 2019, serving a sentence of 16 years in a terror financing case. A JuD official had told the news agency: “Bhuttavi, 77, was incarcerated at District Jail Sheikhupura, some 60 kms from Lahore, since October 2019 in a terror financing case. On May 29 (2023), he felt severe pain in his chest and was shifted to hospital where he was pronounced dead (due to cardiac arrest) on arrival”.

A source in the Punjab government had told PTI that Saeed, who has been lodged at the Kot Lakhpat jail since 2019 serving multiple sentences in terror financing cases, had requested the government to allow him to attend Bhuttavi’s funeral but permission was not granted.