Was Sajid Mir poisoned in Pak jail? Here's what reports are saying about 26/11 Mumbai attacks conspirator

Sajid Mir, one of the masterminds of the dastardly 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, has been allegedly poisoned in the Central Jail of Dera Ghazi Khan in Pakistan, according to unconfirmed reports.

The unsubstantiated reports, which WION cannot confirm at this stage, suggest that Mir was allegedly airlifted bythe Pakistan Army toCMH Institute of Medical Sciences, Bahawalpur after being administered the poison.

He was shifted from the Lahore central jail a few months ago, where he had been holed up since last year.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

The anti-terrorism court in Pakistan last year had sentenced him to a 15-year jail term in aterror financing case.

However, several geopolitical pundits at the time statedit was a calculated move by Islamabad to get the global terror financing watchdog Financial Action Task Force (FATF) off its back. FATF at the time had put Pakistan in its so-called grey list, which affected the country's economy.

Mir's poisoning comes in the backdrop of several top terrorists in Pakistan and abroad, hostile to India's interests, being killed by unknown men or entities or dying in mysterious circumstances.

Watch |26/11 Mumbai attacks' youngest eyewitness: 'I wanted to shoot Kasab' | WION Exclusive

Who is Sajid Mir?

Mir, the chief commander of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) believed to be in his mid-40s, has been wanted for his role in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks of 2008. Alongside terror mastermind Hafiz Saeed, he planned the attacks which led to the death of 175 people including Americans and other foreigners.

The US had placed a $5 million bounty on his head after he was indicted in the US District Court in Chicago, Illinois on April 21, 2011.

He was charged with conspiracy to injure property of foreign government; providing material support to terrorists; killing a citizen outside of the USand aiding and abetting; and bombing of places of public use.

The Rewards for Justice Programme of the United States Department of State had offered reward of up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Sajid Mir.

Earlier this year, India slammed China for indulging in petty "geopolitical interests" after Beijing blocked New Delhi and Washington's joint proposal to list Mir as a global terrorist.

"If we cannot get established terrorists who have been banned across global landscapes proscribed by the United Nations — for petty geopolitical interests —then we really do not have the genuine political will to sincerely fight this challenge of terrorism," Prakash Gupta, joint secretary, UN Political at Ministry of External Affairs had said at the time.

For a proposal to be adopted, it needs consensus from all the UN member countries.

Had the proposalbeen passed to list Mir as a global terrorist, he would have been subjected to an assets freeze, travel ban and an arms embargo.

(With inputs from agencies)