'Bounty on Lashkar chief will put pressure on Pak'

Union Home MKinister P Chidambaram has said that the announcement made by the US government of a $10 million bounty leading to the arrest and conviction of Lashkar-e-Tayiba Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, will put pressure on the Pakistani government to take action against him.

The announcement indicates that the Obama government has realised that it was his organisation which had a role in the Mumbai attacks. "India could share information on Saeed with the United States government," he said. 

Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, he said that the Indian position has been clear from day one.

"We have raised the issue with the Pakistan government from time to time. In fact we have even given a dossier on him including the speeches made by him in Pakistan and the offences committed by him under the Indian Penal code. I believe the criminal law is the same in both nations," he said.

When asked what happened to the voice samples of Saeed, Chidambaram said, "The offer came from Pakistan, but later on, they started dillydallying. They started claiming that how could they take voice samples without the consent of the concerned person".

"The Interpol division of the Central Bureau of Investigations had issued an alert way back in October 2009. Pakistan has done nothing on this issue," he added.

Did the US administration consult the National Security Advisor before making the announcement? "I tried to find out from the NSA. You can check with them," he said but did not rule out the possibility of such a consultation.