India's demand to hand him over along with Dawood and Memon was made in a demarche on December 1. Pakistan turned down the demand, but said it would take action under the country's laws against any Pakistani national found to be involved in the Mumbai attacks.

Azhar formed the Jaish shortly after he was freed by Indian authorities along with two other terrorists in exchange for passengers of an Indian Airlines flight hijacked from Kathmandu to Kandahar in 1999.

Masood had been arrested in Srinagar in a sudden swoop by the authorities and had later told police officials that he had infiltrated to Kashmir to form a broad umbrella organisation of the various Pakistan supported groups.

His movements have been restricted by Pakistan in the past too when India had demanded his handing over.

There have been reports in recent months that Azhar and the Jaish had stepped up activities, including the raising of funds and organising large rallies, in the Bahawalpur area.

Azhar and his group had faced restrictions in the wake of the 2001 attack on the Indian parliament and the 2003 suicide attacks on former President Pervez Musharraf.

The Jaish was renamed as Khudam-ul-Islam and reorganised under the command of Mufti Abdul Rauf, the younger brother of Azhar.