A lawyer representing the founder of a banned Pakistan Islamic militant group blamed for deadly attacks in India demanded his release on Friday, saying Hafiz Mohammad Saeed had been held illegally by the government.
Saeed, number two on India’s 20-most wanted list, was reportedly detained in mid-May by Pakistan’s intelligence services, but there was no official confirmation at the time.
The group he founded, Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba, is one of two bodies blamed for a December raid on the Indian Parliament. Saeed’s wife filed an application at the Lahore High Court this week seeking information about her husband.
His lawyer Nazeer Ahmad Ghazi filed another application on Friday demanding ‘‘that stern action be taken against all those who are responsible for the illegal, unlawful and unjust arrest and detention of the husband of the petitioner at a secret place.’’
Saeed was first detained in December but released in April after the Lahore High Court refused a government request to extend his detention.