Lakhvi allowed expenses from frozen account after UN nod

ISLAMABAD: Ministry of Foreign Affairs has accepted and approved the application of Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, leader of proscribed organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), for using his frozen bank account for monthly expenses worth Rs150,000.

The permission was granted 10 days before his latest arrest. The Punjab government and Bank of Punjab administration have been informed about the development, The News learnt exclusively here on Tuesday.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs approved the application of Lakhvi and issued the statutory notification (SRO) on December 23, 2020. A copy of the SRO is also available with this correspondent.

This development took place almost 10 days before his arrest by the Punjab Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) on January 02, 2021. The CTD has accused Lakhvi that he is using his medical dispensary for collecting funds for financing terrorism. The sources claim that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued the SRO after getting special permission from the Anti-Terrorism Committee of the United Nations Security Council which has already designated Lakhvi as terrorist and had imposed sanctions on him. The sources claim that the federal government has also informed the provincial government and the Bank of Punjab about the relaxation Lakhvi got from the UNSC.

Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi had approached the government for seeking approval of using his bank account for monthly expenses of Rs150,000. In this regard, he had named his son Hafizur Rehman and brother Saadat Bashir Waheed who would send him Rs90,000 and Rs60,000 respectively in his Bank of Punjab account at Renala Khurd, Okara branch. His son and brother both have the bank accounts in the same branch. This is not the first time that the UNSC has granted permission for the monthly expenses. Previously, Hafiz Saeed, the founding head of Lashkar-e-Taiba, Abdul Salam Bhuttavi, Haji Ashraf, Yahya Mujahid and Zafar Iqbal are also enjoying the same facility.