Mumbai Police Initiate In Absentia Trial Against Hafiz Saeed, 5 Others For 26/11 Attacks

The Mumbai Police have officially started the legal process to conduct an 'in absentia' trial against six absconding Pakistani accused involved in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks in 2008.

Hafiz Saeed, the Mumbai attacks mastermind, is the chief of the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba terror outfit. The United Nations sanctioned Lashkar-e-Taiba in 2005 over its links to Al-Qaeda and the Taliban, and the United States in 2008 added Saeed to its global terrorism list.

A coordinated assault by a group of 10 terrorists sent shockwaves through India and the world. The terrorists had entered the city of Mumbai on the night of November 26, 2008, via sea route and over the course of four days, they killed 166 people and injured 300, in some of the busiest parts of the city.

Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam, while speaking to NDTV, confirmed that the trial proceedings will move forward against the key absconding accused: Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, Sajid Mir, Abu Alqama, Asim alias Abu Qahafa, and Major Abdur Rehman Pasha.

The Mumbai Police sent a formal letter to Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam requesting the initiation of trial proceedings under Section 356 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita.

Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam confirmed that a trial court has already issued a proclamation against all six absconding accused.

Once the official report on the issued proclamation is submitted to the court, formal trial proceedings against the six suspects in their absence will begin.

If convicted through this 'in absentia' trial, the accused will face immediate sentencing and punishment whenever brought to India.

Earlier in July, a Jammu court issued a non-bailable warrant against Hafiz Saeed in the Pahalgam terror attack case

The warrant was issued after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) named him as the mastermind in a supplementary chargesheet.

Sources close to the investigation told NDTV that Saeed, who operates from Pakistan under military protection, will be tried in absentia.

Twenty-six people, most of whom were civilians, were killed in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam in April 2025.