LAHORE, Nov 24: Pakistani authorities acting on a court order have released a US-wanted militant who allegedly founded a banned group linked to the 2008 Mumbai attack.

Hafiz Saeed, who has been designated a terrorist by the US Justice Department and has a $10 million bounty on his head, was released before dawn Friday.

Saeed’s spokesman Yahya Mujahid confirmed his release.

Saeed ran the Jamaat-ud-Dawa organization, widely believed to be a front for the Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group that was behind the attack in Mumbai, India, that killed 168 people. Pakistan put Saeed and four of his aides under house arrest in Lahore in January.

His release came after a three-judge panel dismissed the government’s plea to continue with his house arrest, which ended Thursday.

His aides were released earlier.