The Union Ministry of Home Affairs has designated 23 Pakistan-based individuals, affiliated with Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), and other terrorist outfits, as “terrorists” under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). The action was taken due to their involvement in multiple terror-related activities, including infiltration, recruitment, arms supply, and the planning of attacks in Jammu and Kashmir.
Among those designated are close aides of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) founder Hafiz Saeed, who is responsible for orchestrating multiple terrorist attacks on Indian soil.
The Central government amended the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in August 2019 to introduce a provision allowing the designation of individuals as terrorists. Prior to the amendment, only organisations could be designated as terrorist organisations.
This provision enables agencies such as the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to impose restrictions on arms and funds and to seize the assets of the designated individuals.
The current list of designated terrorists includes several high-profile names such as Hafiz Saeed, Jaish-e-Mohammad (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, among others.
With the addition of these 23 individuals, the total number of terrorists designated under the UAPA has now risen to 80.
According to a notification issued on Saturday morning, the designated individuals include three close aides of Hafiz Saeed: Abdul Rauf, a senior leader of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD); Hafiz Khalid Waleed, another senior LeT and JuD functionary; and Rana Iftikhar, who coordinates jihadi operations and motivates youth to engage in terrorist activities.
Other prominent individuals designated by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) include Masood Ilyas Kashmiri, a senior Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) operative based in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. He was involved in the JeM terrorist attack on security forces in Sunjwan, Jammu, on April 22, 2022.
“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, the primary handler responsible for JeM’s infiltration of Pakistani terrorists into India, has also been designated. He was involved in the Sunjwan attack.
Another senior JeM functionary designated on Saturday is Mufti Muhammad Asghar Khan, alias Abu Saad, who serves as a launching commander for JeM terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir. He was one of the masterminds of the attack on the Indian Army camp at Nagrota, Jammu, on November 29, 2016.
Bureau Report
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