Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, the 26/11 mastermind has reportedly been put under house arrest, reported Pakistani outlet Dunya News. His outfit, the Jamaat ud-Dawa (JuD), is likely to be banned on Monday night. Saeed has been put under house arrest at Qadisiyyah Mosque near Chouburji, Lahore.

Talking on Dunya News program, senior analyst Mujib ur-Rehman Shami claimed the new US regime is quite tough on these organizations and the government might ban it. Earlier, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said that JuD was under observation since 2010 and was a listed organization by the United Nations Security Council. JUD is a frontal organisation for Lashkar-e-Toiba, which was the mastermind in orchestrating the Mumbai terror attack and many other terror strikes in India. Despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary, Sayeed has always claimed that JUD is a charitable organisation and is not involved with terrorism.

JuD chief and Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed has often threatened India in his public sermons. Soon after India's surgical strikes, Saeed had warned the Modi government to get ready to face a surgical strike from the Pakistan army. JUD has been banned twice in the past and Sayeed's arrest has come reportedly after tough talks between Pak envoy to US and White House.

The step comes at a time when US President Donald Trump is cracking down on radical Islamic terrorism and has temporarily banned travellers from 7 Muslim majority countries. White House sources have also indicated that Pakistan may be included in that list later. This move may be a damage control measure to stop any such drastic step.

The move comes after years of pressure on Pakistan to put Saeed on trial and could ease recently escalating tensions with neighbour and arch-foe India. The United States has offered $10 million for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Saeed, who heads Islamic charity Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD). U.S. officials say JuD is a front for the Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). "A large police team arrived (at JuD headquarters) and told us that Hafiz would be placed under house arrest," Nadeem Awan, Secretary of Information for JuD, told Reuters.Awan said the police told them they had an arrest warrant for Saeed and five others at JuD headquarters in the eastern city of Lahore.

India's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Saeed has repeatedly denied involvement in the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Saeed's continued freedom has been a source of continuing friction between nuclear-armed neighbours Pakistan and India as well as the United States. Awan said the Pakistani government had been under pressure from the United States to take action against Saeed or face sanctions. "This government has buckled under the pressure," Awan said.

WIth inputs from Reuters