By Hamza Ameer

Islamabad, Jan 2 (IANS): In an all out crackdown against the Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militant groups, Pakistan counter-terrorism authorities have arrested Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, the chief planner of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks and the LeT's current supreme commander of operations, on charges of terrorist financing.

Lakhvi was arrested by the Punjab province's Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD), which has already filed over two dozen cases against Hafiz Saeed, JuD chief and mastermind of the Mumbai attacks, on charges of money laundering and terrorist financing.

As per reports, Lakhvi has been found guilty of extending financial help to terrorists through different umbrella businesses.

Reliable sources told IANS that Lakhvi has been arrested for running a dispensary and generating funds for the purpose of diverting the same to terrorists.

He was arrested through an intelligence based operation (IBO) by the CTD and was in reference to a case filed against him at the CTD police station Lahore.

Lakhvi's name is also present in the UN proscribed persons list.

He is a close aid to Saeed and has been involved in various operations of both the JuD and LeT.

As per details shared by the CTD, Lakhvi has been arrested on charges of terrorist financing.

His case will now be heard in the Anti-Terrorist Court (ATC) in Lahore.