The Union Home Ministry has designated 23 individuals based in Pakistan and associated with Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and other outfits as “terrorists” under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
Chief among those designated are close aides of LeT founder Hafiz Saeed, who is accused of orchestrating multiple attacks on Indian soil.
According to a notification issued on Saturday, the designated individuals include three close aides of Hafiz Saeed — Abdul Rauf, a senior member of LeT and Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD); Hafiz Khalid Waleed, another senior LeT and JuD leader; and Rana Iftikhar, who coordinates militant activities and motivates youths to engage in terrorist operations.
Other key individuals named by the MHA include Masood Ilyas Kashmiri, a senior JeM functionary operating from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. He was involved in the April 22, 2022 attack by JeM terrorists on security forces in Sunjwan, Jammu.
“Masood Ilyas Kashmiri is a senior Jaish-e-Mohammed functionary and is involved in carrying out a wide range of terrorist activities against the country, including recruiting youth into the terrorist organisation Jaish-e-Mohammed, imparting training to them and then facilitating the infiltration of terrorists into the country,” the MHA notification stated.
Mohammad Mussadiq alias Doctor, identified as the main handler of JeM infiltration operations, has also been included in the list. He was also involved in the Sunjwan attack.
“Mussadiq is involved in carrying out a wide range of terrorist activities against the country, including supplying arms and ammunition through drones across the border, planning terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir and, to further widen the scope of terror activities, is also involved in handling a team of Jaish-e-Mohammed cyber operatives who use various social media platforms to recruit youth into the terrorist organisation Jaish-e-Mohammed,” the MHA said.
A third senior JeM functionary, Mufti Muhammad Asghar Khan alias Abu Saad, a launching commander of JeM terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir, was also designated. He is described as “one of the masterminds” of the 2016 attack on the Indian Army camp at Nagrota, Jammu.
These individuals have been named for their involvement in infiltration, recruitment, arms supply and planning attacks in Jammu and Kashmir.
The Central Government amended the UAPA in August 2019 to allow designation of individuals as terrorists. Earlier, only organisations could be designated under the law.
This provision allows agencies such as the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to impose restrictions on arms, funds and seize assets of such individuals.
With the latest addition of 23 names, the total number of individuals designated as terrorists now stands at 80, alongside figures such as Hafiz Saeed, JeM chief Maulana Masood Azhar, 26/11 Mumbai attacks co-mastermind Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and US-based Khalistani leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.
