A National Investigation Agency officer, probing Saeed's role in the 26/11 attacks, said that no amount of evidence would actually be sufficient to nail Saeed. Dossiers and documents and several other pieces of evidence have been shared, but Pakistan appears to turn a blind eye as far as Saeed is concerned.
Saeed's role in the Mumbai attacks was largely that of a motivator. LeT terrorists Ajmal Kasab, Abu Jundal and David Headley have spoken about their interactions with Saeed while they were being trained for the terror strikes.
Saeed was away from the operational part of the plan although he was in the know of things all the time. This is something that is very difficult for India to ascertain, as the culprit is housed in a country, which is very hostile on matters concerning the JuD chief, the officer said.
Investigators will point out that nailing a motivational operative in any sort of crime is a daunting task. The only way to get this done is to have the accused speak about the offence and this can only be achieved through an interrogation. The rest would be based purely on circumstantial evidence. In order to nail an accused on the basis of circumstantial evidence it is important to have his statements and then club both and produce it before a court, they added.
Hence, it is important that India either gets access to Saeed or Pakistan conducts a serious interrogation on him. During the interrogation, Saeed's role in the attack will have to be questioned. He will have to be probed based on the statements made by Kasab, Jundal and Headley.
The NIA said that it was easy for Malik to say that there was lack of evidence. "How can there be evidence if there is no probe by them (Pakistan) in the first place? Their probe needs to be been based on the evidence that India and the US had provided against Saeed," an officer said.
Officials in the Intelligence Bureau say that Pakistan will continue to be soft on Saeed because he knows too much about the establishment and its role against India. Moreover, he has the ability to influence millions in Pakistan.
What is ironic is that Saeed has managed to convince many in Pakistan that he is a victim of conspiracy and not an accused in the 26/11 case. What makes matters worse is that he is not considered to be a rogue by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence, but is looked at more as a friend who furthers their policy against India, according to the IB.Pakistan has no love lost for Hafiz Saeed: Rehman Malik
Malik's parting shot: India gave insufficient info
Will Pakistan ever hand over Hafiz Saeed? BAH!
Hafiz Saeed: So near, yet so far for Indian agencies
Pak needs hard evidence against Hafiz Saeed: Malik