Mumbai 2008 terror attack mastermind Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi released from Pakistan prison

'I don't know where he will go now', his lawyer admits

The mastermind behind the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks in which 166 people were killed has been released on bail, with his lawyer admitting – "I don't know where he will go".

The freeing of Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi has been met with widespread outrage in India.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has previously condemned the prospect of bail, which comes months after India and Pakistan were engaged in their worst cross-border violence in more than a decade in Kashmir.

"Lakhvi has been released and he is out of the jail now," his lawyer, Malik Nasir Abbas, told Reuters. "I don't know where he will go now."

Police officers survey some of the damage in the aftermath of the 2008 Mumbai bombings (Getty)

His release has prompted outrage on social media. "Dear Pakistani courts," read one tweet. "Would it take Lakhvi to mow down children in a Peshawar school for you to see him for the terrorist he is?"

A fire breaks out of the dome of the Taj hotel during a series of attacks in the Indian city of Mumbai in 2008 (Getty Images)

India's Ministry for External Affairs said before the release that its concern about Lakhvi had been made clear to Pakistan.

"The fact is that known terrorists not being effectively prosecuted constitutes a real security threat for India and the world," an Indian ministry spokesman said.

Workers carry on the rescue act at the site of attack in the Colaba area of Mumbai, 2008 (Getty Images)

"This also erodes the value of assurances repeatedly conveyed to us with regard to cross-border terrorism."

A Pakistani court granted him bail on 18 December, claiming there was not enough evidence to hold him but this ruling was overturned just hours afterwards when the government issued a three-month detention order and promised to appeal the decision.

Policemen stand outside the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel in Mumbai, after the city was rocked by multiple coordinated terrorist attacks that targeted locations popular with foreigners (Getty Images)

The latest judicial ruling may prove highly uncomfortable for Pakistan’s government, who have promised a crackdown on militant activity in the wake of the Peshawar school tragedy in December last year.

The 2008 Mumbai attacks saw 166 dead after a four-day coordinated shooting and bombing attack in the south Indian city.

At least 308 people were wounded in the widespread attacks, which were later linked back to Pakistan after the only surviving attacker Ajmal Kasab confessed under interrogation that the attacks were allegedly partially supported by the Pakistani government’s intelligence agency ISI.

Additional reporting by Reuters