FIR registered against Hafiz Saeed's JuD for displaying banners, asking donations

The development comes after US President Donald Trump accused Islamabad of providing 'safe haven' to terrorists.

JuD chief Hafiz Saeed speaking to supporters in Rawalpindi

NEW DELHI: A complaint has been registered against 2008 Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed's Jamaat-ud Dawa (JuD) on charges of putting up banners and requesting donations from the public recently. 

After US President Donald Trump accused Islamabad of providing 'safe haven' to terrorists, the Pakistani government imposed a ban on companies and individuals from making donations to the Saed-led JuD and Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation (FIF) and other organisations on the UNSC sanctions list.

Asked about a crackdown on JuD and FIF, Defence Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan told BBC Urdu that action against Saeed wasn't due to pressure from the US but under the ambit of the country's own anti-terror operations.

The PML-N government is also considering taking over the control of charities run by the JuD and the FIF. If action is taken, the JuD may lose its headquarters in Muridke, near Lahore, to the government.

The FIF is a Pakistan-based organisation that is closely connected to banned terrorist group LeT and JuD. It is also said that FIF is JuD with a new name, designed to evade scrutiny and sanctions.

The United States has labelled JuD and FIF 'terrorist fronts' for Lashkar-e-Taiba ("Army of the Pure" or LeT), a group Saeed founded in 1987 and which Washington and India blame for the 2008 attacks in Mumbai that killed 166 people.

Saeed has repeatedly denied involvement in the Mumbai attacks and a Pakistani court saw insufficient evidence to convict him.

The FATF, an international body that combats money laundering and terrorist financing, has warned Pakistan it faces inclusion on a watch list for failing to crack down on financing terrorism.

On Wednesday, the JuD and the FIF activists held a rally outside its headquarters in Muridke near Lahore in protest against the government action and also blocked a road.

Addressing the rally, JuD leader Hafiz Abdur Rehman Maki alleged that the action against the JuD and the FIF has been taken on the pressure of the US and India.

"Those trying to strangle the JuD and the FIF will soon be in the grip of Allah. We are not committing any crime to serve the humanity," he said.

Maki also said that any move by the government to take the control of 'Markaz-e-Taiba' (the JuD headquarters) and charity would not be accepted.