Pak court orders release of LeT founder Saeed

Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, the founder and former leader of the Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group, was placed under house arrest in the eastern city of Lahore on Aug. 10.

Authorities said he was detained because of fears his activities could disrupt law and order.

The decision to hold him had nothing to do with an investigation into a plot foiled in London this month to blow up airliners over the Atlantic, Pakistan said.

The Lahore high court said on Monday the government had failed to produce evidence to justify Saeed's detention, his lawyer, Nazir Ahmed Ghazi, told Reuters.

"The court found his detention illegal and ordered the authorities to immediately release him," Ghazi said.

A court official confirmed the ruling.

Saeed resigned almost five years ago from Lashkar-e-Taiba, a group active in fighting Indian security forces in India's part of the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir.