One of the accused in the Mumbai blast incident of November 26, 2008, Abdul Rehman Makki, died in Pakistan due to cardiac arrest on Friday. A news agency said that Makki, who was the brother-in-law of Hafiz Saeed, the alleged chief of the 26/11 Mumbai attack, expired in a private hospital in Lahore due to complications related to Diabetes.
Makki, who was the deputy chief of the banned Jamaat-ud-Dawa or JuD organization, was said to be unwell for several days. A JuD official said, “Makki was found dead this morning; he had a cardiac arrest and died in the hospital.”
Mumbai city was in shock for 16 years when a group of terrorists came from Pakistan through the sea, and this attack was from the Lashkar-e-Taiba threatened more than 100 lives. Makki’s death happens when the memory of the heinous attacks is still fresh and painful for the city and its dwellers.
Makki had been convicted in a terror financing case in Pakistan in 2020 and had received a six-month imprisonment from an anti-terrorism court. Since then, he has withdrawn from the public limelight. This is one more case of one more chapter in the quest for justice for the Mumbai attack victims coming to a halt despite many feeling that there is still more to be done.
In January this year, Pakistan accused India of involvement in targeting terrorists in Pakistan, a claim India’s Ministry of External Affairs described as Lies and propaganda. In April, also on social media, there were reports that Hafiz Saeed had been taken ill in the hospital, though the news was never verified.
Makki’s death brings out continued political struggle and unsolved factors with regard to terror activities and their identification in South Asia.
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