New Delhi: The Union home ministry on Saturday designated 23 Pakistan-based individuals, including close associates of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) founder Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, linked to Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and LeT, as “terrorists” under the anti-terror law UAPA. The designated terrorists were involved in high-profile attacks on sec-urity forces, drone-based weapon smuggling, and indoctrination and recruitment of youth through social media, a government order said.
On Saturday, 23 Pakistan-based terrorists, including those involved in attacks on security forces in Jammu and Kashmir, were added to the list under schedule, taking the total number to 80. In a message posted on ‘X’, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the designated terrorists were involved in anti-India activities, carrying out terror attacks, inciting terror, trafficking arms, infiltrating through the border, facilitating terrorist organisations, raising funds and recruiting terrorists.
“Pursuing Modi Ji’s vision of zero tolerance against terror, the MHA today declared 23 dreaded terror functionaries as terrorists under the provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act… “Out of the 23 terrorists announced today, 17 are Pakistani nationals and 6 are Indian nationals. However, all of them at present operate terrorist activities from Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir. The Modi govt is determined to rip apart every terror module to shield India and its people,” he said.
The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) empowers the central government to designate an individual as a terrorist if it believes the individual is involved in terrorism. Inclusion in the fourth Schedule is for designating individuals, while the first Schedule lists and designates terrorist organisations, such as JeM and LeT. Including the names of terrorists in the list will allow the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to block their finances, embargo arms sales, and seize their assets.
Associates of LeT founder Saeed, already a designated terrorist, 52-year-old Abdul Rauf, who operates under Saeed’s direct command in Lahore, and 54-year-old Rana Iftikhar, a close associate who motivates youth for Jihadi activities, have been designated as terrorists under the UAPA. Hafiz Khalid Waleed, Maulana Saifullah Khalid, and Molana Yousaf Taibi, associated with Saeed’s Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) network, have also been included in the list.
Ashfaq Ahmad (52) was designated to provide “technical assistance” and collect funds for JeM operations from his base in Bahawalpur. The notifications, issued by Joint Secretary Rakesh Rathi on Saturday, designated 52-year-old Mufti Muhammad Asghar Khan, identified as a JeM launching commander based in Abbaspur, considered one of the masterminds behind the attack on the Indian Army Camp in Nagrota, Jammu, on November 29, 2016.South Asians & Diaspora
Two other JeM operatives also linked to the Nagrota attack — 56-year-old Hafiz Abdul Shakoor from Kotli, and 47-year-old Abdullah Jehadi, who facilitates the infiltration of cadres from the Neelum district — were also included in the list, the order said. JeM terrorists — 41-year old Masood Ilyas Kashmiri from Poonch in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, and 38-year-old Mohammad Mussadiq from Shakargarh, district Narowal in Pakistan, who was involved in the attack on the security forces at Sunjwan, Jammu, on April 22, 2022 — also figure in the list of designated terrorists.
Mussadiq is also accused of using a team of “cyber players” to recruit youth across various social media platforms, and a “main handler” for JeM infiltration was also included in the list. A resident of Bangalore now holed up in Rawalpindi, 40-year-old Mohammed Shaheed Faisal, affiliated with LeT, JeM, Al-Qaeda, and ISIS modules, is included in the list for recruiting youth via social media, arranging for weapons training in Pakistan, and raising funds for terrorist activities.
Faisal has remained involved in imparting training in the use of data encryption and fake identities to evade law enforcement agencies, the order said. “With the intent of carrying out terrorist activities in the country, he has remained involved in the delivery of weapons and ammunition and conspiracies related to several terrorist incidents,” the order notified on Saturday morning said.
Amir of several factions of JeM, Imdad Ullah Makki, who is the coordinator of several terrorist activities, has also been designated as a terrorist, according to the order. Nazir Ahmed Gujjar from Islaamabad and Waseem Noor Jat from Jhang in Punjab are included for supplying arms and ammunition using drones from across the border into Jammu and Kashmir, and indoctrination of youth.
In 2019, the UAPA was amended to include individual terrorists in the list, as before the amendment, only groups could be listed as terrorist organisations. LeT terrorists Firdous Ahmad Bhat, Haroon Rashid Ganai, Bilal Ahmad Mir, Abid Quyoom Lone, Nazir Ahmed Gujjar, Abdul Rauf, Ashfaq Ahmad, Hafiz Khalid Waleed, Maulana Saifullah Khalid, Mohammad Yaqoob, Molana Yousaf Taibi, Owais Farooz, Qari Yaqub Sheikh, and Rana Iftikhar have also been added to the list.
“Formally designating these individuals as terrorists will not only help dismantle the terror ecosystem by curbing their financial networks, movements, recruitment capabilities, and terror-linked activities, but will also send a strong message of deterrence against anti-national and terrorist acts. “Furthermore, it will enhance the capacity of security and law enforcement agencies to initiate coordinated legal, investigative, and preventive actions at both national and international levels,” the home ministry said in a statement.
