"India will definitely demand sanctions": Maharashtra CM Fadnavis on Pakistan funding Lashkar-e-Taiba's HQ reconstruction

Pune (Maharashtra) [India], September 14 (ANI): Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday stated that India will definitely demand sanctions on Pakistan for funding the reconstruction of Lashkar-e-Taiba's (LeT) headquarters at Muridke, Markaz Taiba, which was reduced to rubble by Indian Air Force strikes during Operation Sindoor on May 7.
However, the Maharashtra CM clarified that only the Indian government can officially comment on the issue.
"I think that if Pakistan tries to fund it, India will definitely demand that sanctions be imposed on them at the international level. Only the Indian government can speak officially on this issue. I can't speak officially on this," Devendra Fadnavis said.
This comes after fresh intelligence inputs reveal that Pakistan is directly funding the terror outfit's reconstruction. Islamabad has already allocated PKR 4 crore to LeT, while the group estimates the rebuild will cost over PKR 15 crore. Senior commanders Maulana Abu Zar and Yunus Shah Bukhari are overseeing the project, with a deadline set for February 5, 2026, timed with LeT's annual Kashmir Solidarity Day convention.
According to a dossier prepared by agencies, "LeT cadres have also launched fundraising campaigns under the guise of "flood relief", repeating a historical pattern where humanitarian aid was diverted to terror infrastructure. In 2005, nearly 80% of earthquake relief funds collected by LeT's front, Jamaat-ud-Dawa, were channelled into building militant camps.
Despite Pakistan's repeated claims at global platforms of fighting terrorism, the dossier confirms its Army and ISI remain complicit, ensuring LeT's survival and resurgence. Analysts warn that this deliberate rebuilding effort reflects Islamabad's double standards on counter-terrorism and signals the likelihood of fresh cross-border attacks being planned from Pakistani soil.
Markaz Taiba, Muridke, not only serves as a residence to major commanders of the outfits but also serves as the epicentre for radicalisation and various training courses on intelligence, arms handling, etc.
Markaz Taiba, established in the year 2000, is the 'alma mater' and the most important training centre of LeT located in Nangal Sahdan, Muridke, Sheikhupura, Punjab, Pakistan. The complex held arms and physical training facilities, as well as dawa'h and radicalisation for terror entities, both from within Pakistan and abroad.
This Markaz enrols around 1000 students in different courses annually, thereby highlighting the role of this Markaz in churning out terror entities for LeT annually. Osama Bin Laden had financed Rs 10 million for the construction of the Mosque and Guest House within the Markaz Taiba complex.
At the behest of Pakistan's ISI, all the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai attack, including Ajmal Kasab, were imparted 'Daura-e-Ribbat' (intelligence training) at this facility. David Coleman Headley and Tahawwur Hussain Rana, the prime conspirators of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, had visited Muridke along with Abdul Rehman Sayed @ Pasha, Haroon and Khurram (co-conspirators) on the instructions of Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi. (ANI)