LeT Founder And Mumbai Terror Attack Conspirator Hafiz Abdul Salam Bhuttavi 'Confirmed Dead': UNSC

The United Nations Security Council has said that Hafiz Abdul Salam Bhuttavi, founding member of Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT) and deputy to outlawed Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief and Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed is 'confirmed dead', news agency ANI reported on Thursday. As per UNSC, Bhuttavi died of cardiac arrest in Muridke, Punjab Province on May 29, 2023 while he was in custody of the Pakistan Government.

Hafiz Abdul Salam Bhuttavi, founding member of Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT) and deputy to Hafiz Saeed is 'Confirmed Deceased' pic.twitter.com/wFLKZAnOhw

— ANI (@ANI) January 11, 2024

Bhuttavi, who helped prepare the terrorists who carried out the 2008 Mumbai attacks, had died in a Pakistani prison while serving a sentence for terror financing, as reported by news agency PTI.

"Hafiz Abdul Salam Bhuttavi was a founding member of Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT) (QDe.118) and deputy to LeT emir Hafiz Muhammad Saeed (QDi.263). Bhuttavi served as the acting emir of Lashkar-e-Tayyiba/Jamaat-ud-Dawa (LeT/JuD) on at least two occasions when Saeed was detained," according to the UNSC.

Moreover, he is also responsible for LeT/JuD's madrassah (religious school) network. "Bhuttavi was also LeT/JuD's preeminent scholar, had instructed its leaders and members, and issued fatwas authorizing LeT/JuD operations. Bhuttavi helped prepare the operatives for the November 2008 terrorist assault in Mumbai, India, by delivering lectures on the merits of martyrdom operations. The Mumbai attacks killed over 150 people and injured many more. Bhuttavi is responsible for LeT/JuD's madrassah (religious school) network," the UNSC said in a statement.

"Bhuttavi, 77, was incarcerated at District Jail Sheikhupura, some 60 kms from Lahore, since October 2019 in a terror financing case. On May 29, he felt severe pain in his chest and was shifted to hospital where he was pronounced dead (due to cardiac arrest) on arrival," a JuD official had earlier told PTI.

According to PTI, Bhuttavi’s funeral was held at the LeT/JuD headquarters in Muridke in which a large number of the supporters of the banned organisation participated amid high security.