India and the United States have both indicted Sajid Mir of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba group for the three-day attacks on hotels, a train station and a Jewish center in which 166 people were killed including six Americans. Lashkar-e-Taiba carried out 12 attacks in Mumbai over four days, killing 165 people and wounding more than 300.
Two of the terrorists targeted the Chabad House in Mumbai, holding eight Jews hostage and murdering all of them.Two of those killed were Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg, the Chabad emissaries to Mumbai. Rivka was five months pregnant at the time.
Miraculously, Sandra Samuel - nanny to the Holtzbergs' child, Moshe - saved the, then, two-year-old’s life, running out of the building while holding him after finding him next to his motionless parents. Moshe then moved to Israel to live with his grandparents in Afula. Samuel came with him, eventually receiving honorary Israeli citizenship.
While Pakistan took action against the Lashkar founder Hafiz Saeed last year, it continued to provide safe harbor to other top militant leaders, the US State Department's 2019 country report on terrorism said.
One of them was Sajid, the "project manager" of the Mumbai attack, believed to remain free in Pakistan, the US report said.
An Indian official said the government has repeatedly asked Pakistan to hand over Sajid who is charged with serving as chief planner of the attacks, directing preparations and reconnaissance and was also named as one of the Pakistan-based controllers during the attacks.
"We have asked before, and are demanding again, he needs to be handed over," the official dealing with regional security issues said.
Pakistan’s foreign office did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Pakistan has repeatedly rejected U.S. allegations that it is a safe haven for militants and said it has prosecuted the leadership of several proscribed groups.
Another Indian official said the lack of action against Sajid was in conflict with Pakistan's assurances to international organisations including the Financial Action Task Force, the global watchdog on terrorism financing. Pakistan is trying to get off the FATF grey list of offending nations.
The FBI has posted a reward of $5 million for information leading to the capture of Sajid who is also wanted for a 2008/2009 plot against Denmark’s Jyllands-Posten newspaper to avenge its publication of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad that enraged many Muslims.