Lashkar-e-Taiba Hafiz Abdul Salam Bhuttavi: Deputy to Hafiz Saeed confirmed dead by UNSC

The founding member of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Hafiz Abdul Salam Bhuttavi, who was the deputy of Hafiz Saeed, has been “confirmed deceased”, the United Nations Security Council stated on Thursday. He was also a key conspirator in the 26/11 attacks in 2008 and the UNSC said that he died of cardiac arrest in May 2023.

The LeT-orchestrated 26/11 Mumbai attacks over the course of four days, killed as many as 166 people and injured 300. Also, Hafiz Saeed is a UN-proscribed terrorist and the government recently issued a request to Pakistan for the extradition of Hafiz Saeed to India.

In a press note on its official website, the UN further said that Bhuttavi, 77, died in Muridke in Pakistan’s Punjab province while he was under the custody of the Pakistan government.

“Bhuttavi died of cardiac arrest in Muridke, Punjab Province on 29 May 2023, while he was in custody of the Government of Pakistan,” the UNSC’s statement read.

It added that Bhuttavi took charges of the group’s day-to-day functions for the period when Hafiz Saeed was detained, days after the Mumbai terror attacks. Hafiz Saeed was released from Pakistani authorities’ custody in June 2009. Currently, Hafiz Saeed, mastermind of the Mumbai terror attack and outlawed Jamat-ud-Dawah chief is serving a 78-year-imprisonment sentence in Pakistan.

The UNSC also stated that in mid-2002, Bhuttavi was in-charge of establishing a LeT organisational base in Lahore, Pakistan. He was listed on March 14, 2023 as being associated with Al-Qaida for participating in or supporting the activities of Lashkar-e-Taiba.

The date on which the narrative summary about Hafiz Abdul Salam Bhuttavi became available on the Committee’s website was March 14, 2012, whereas it was updated on December 19, 2023.