Old Video Of LeT's Hafiz Saeed Shared As Recent Amid Ind-Pak Tensions

However, BOOM found that the viral footage is from 2017 when Pakistani authorities had detained Saeed along with four of his associates. The video has no connection to the current tensions between the two nations.

Saeed is the mastermind behind the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks and a UN-declared global terrorist. Among the nine terror hideouts reportedly targeted by India during its recent counter-offensive, Operation Sindoor, Muridke was identified as an LeT base.

Following the April 22 Pahalgam attack on Indian tourists, India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, 2025, targeting terror bases in Pakistan in a retaliatory strike. The following days saw both nations embroiled in armed conflict, including air strikes, drone and missile attacks. Both countries agreed to a ceasefire on May 10. As per recent news reports, the ceasefire between the two nations has been extended till May 18.

Sharing the viral footage on X, a user wrote, “ Following the temporary truce, terrorist Hafiz Saeed gave a press conference by posing as if he is Pakistan's prime minister or Pakistan’s army general. He is unaware that the Indian army is still watching him and that he could be shot down at any moment if India so chooses.Time for unknown men to take care of him.”

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Fact-check

BOOM found that the viral footage is old and that Saeed did not make any fresh statements around the current India-Pakistan conflict. We traced the viral video to the official YouTube channel of the Associated Press Archive, where it was uploaded on February 5, 2017.

The video description clearly states that the footage was recorded on January 31, 2017, when Hafiz Saeed was placed under house arrest by Pakistani authorities along with four of his associates.

Further, we found an Al Jazeera report dated January 31, 2017 confirming that Saeed was detained late on January 30 from the Jamaat-ud-Dawa headquarters in Lahore and placed under house arrest.

The visuals in that report closely match those in the viral video. Before his detention, Saeed had addressed the media, referring to Kashmir and calling the move “an international conspiracy aimed at disrupting the Kashmir struggle.” He also criticised United States President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

A February 2017 report by The Economic Times stated that the Pakistani government had justified Saeed’s house arrest as being a “policy decision that the state took in national interest." It also reported that authorities had allowed him to address the media under tight security.

Another October 2017 news report by The Indian Express mentioned that the Pakistani government eventually withdrew its appeal to extend Saeed’s detention further. The Punjab government had initially placed him under 90-day preventive detention under the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997.