NIA Charge-Sheets LeT/TRF, Seven Accused in Pahalgam Terror Attack Case
Agency details Pakistan-linked conspiracy behind attack that killed 26 people, invokes charges of waging war against India
The National Investigation Agency on Monday charge-sheeted seven accused in the Pahalgam terror attack case, including the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT)/The Resistance Front (TRF) terrorist organisation.
According to the official communiqué, the charge sheet, which details Pakistan’s conspiracy, roles of the accused, and supporting evidence in the case, has charged the banned LeT/TRF as a legal entity for its role in planning, facilitating, and executing the Pahalgam attack.
The attack, which involved religion-based targeted killings by the Pakistan-sponsored terrorists, left 25 tourists and one local civilian dead, it read.
It further stated that Pakistani handler terrorist Sajid Jatt is also named as an accused in the 1,597-page charge sheet, filed before the NIA Special Court, Jammu.
The NIA’s charge sheet further names the three Pakistani terrorists killed by Indian security forces during the action in Operation Mahadev at Dachigam, Srinagar, in July, weeks after the deadly terror attack.
The three have been identified as Faisal Jatt alias Suleman Shah, Habeeb Tahir alias Jibran, and Hamza Afghani.
LeT/TRF, as well as the four above mentioned terrorists, has been charged under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, the Arms Act, 1959, and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, read the handout.
In its charge sheet, the federal agency has also invoked the penal section against the accused for waging war against India.
The NIA, through a meticulous scientific probe spanning the past almost eight months, had traced the conspiracy in the case to Pakistan, which has been unabatedly sponsoring terrorism against India.
The two accused persons -- Parvaiz Ahmad and Bashir Ahmad Jothatd -- were arrested by the NIA on June 22 for harbouring terrorists and have also been chargesheeted.
During interrogation, the two men had disclosed the identities of the three armed terrorists involved in the attack, and had also confirmed that they were Pakistani nationals affiliated to proscribed LeT terror outfit, read the handout.
Further investigation in the case is continuing.