In its charge sheet filed today, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has accused Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Sajid Jatt, one of its commanders, for planning, facilitating, and executing the Pahalgam attack along with five others.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday charged Pakistan-based and -backed terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), one of its commanders, and five others with planning and carrying out the Pahalgam attack.
In a charge sheet filed in the NIA Special Court, Jammu, the NIA treated The Resistance Front (TRF), the organisation that claimed responsibility for the Pahalgam attack, as a proxy of the LeT, and accused it of planning, facilitating, and executing the attack.
On April 22, terrorists attacked a spot popular with tourists at Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam and killed 26 persons, including 25 tourists and one local. It was the worst terrorist attack in many years and prompted the Indian government to launch ‘Operation Sindoor’ to strike terrorist facilities in Pakistan and Pakistan Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (POJK) on May 7.
In a statement, the NIA said the charge sheet accused Sajid Jatt of LeT, three Pakistani terrorists —Faisal Jatt alias Suleman Shah, Habeeb Tahir alias Jibran, and Hamza Afghani— along with two Pahalgam residents, Parvaiz Ahmad and Bashir Ahmad Jothatd, in the Pahalgam attack case.
The NIA identified Suleman, Jibran, and Hamza, as terrorists who carried out the attack. Later, in July, Union Home Minister Amit Shah announcedthey were killed by security forces in Srinagar in July. Ahmad and Jothatd were arrested in June for harbouring and supporting these three terrorists.
“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. Further investigation in the case is continuing,” the NIA said in the statement.
Who is Sajid Jatt?
Previously, Sajid has been described as an LeT commander.
Suleman, Habeeb, and Jibran were part of several teams operating under the command of Sajid, according to The Print.
The report described Sajit as a senior LeT operative who had previously served in south Kashmir’s Kulgam for several years. Currently, the report said, Sajid is believed to live in the village of Changa Manga near Lahore.
Sajid, LeT, and others named in the charge sheet have been booked under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023; the Arms Act, 1959; and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), 1967; and have been slapped with the charge of waging war against India, the NIA said in the statement.
Further investigation in the case is continuing, the NIA said.
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