Srinagar: Jamat-ud Dawah (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed and his four aides have been detained for “spreading terrorism in the name of jihad”, Pakistan’s interior ministry has told a judicial review board, a news report said on Sunday.

Saeed appeared before the board on Saturday and told it that he had been detained by the Pakistani government in order to stop him for raising voice for Kashmiris, the report said.

However, the interior ministry rejected his arguments and told the three-member board that Saeed and his four aides have been detained for “spreading terrorism in the name of jihad”, the report said further.

The board comprising Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan of the Supreme Court (head), Justice Ayesha A Malik of Lahore high court and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail of Balochistan high court directed the ministry to submit a complete record regarding detention of Saeed and his aides – Zafar Iqbal, Abdul Rehman Abid, Abdullah Ubaid and Qazi Kashif Niaz on next hearing on May 15, the report added.

The board, according to the report, also sought personal appearance of the attorney general of Pakistan on next hearing.

Police produced Saeed and his four aides before the board at Lahore registry of the apex court amid high security. A large number of Saeed’s supporters gathered outside the court.

Saeed’s counsel advocate A K Dogar was also present but the founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) chose to plead his case before the court.

“The allegations levelled by the government against me had never been proved by any state institution. My organisation and I have been victimised for raising voice for freedom of Kashmir and criticising the government’s weak policy on the Kashmir issue,” Saeed was quoted in the report as saying, adding that he had been placed under house arrest in order to stop him for raising voice for Kashmiri people.