The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has taken a significant legal step in the Pahalgam terror attack case, filing a comprehensive chargesheet that for the first time treats the banned terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) as a legal entity. The chargesheet, presented before a special court in Jammu on Monday, details a conspiracy traced back to Pakistan and names seven accused, including top handlers and local facilitators.
Unraveling the Pakistan-Linked Conspiracy
The 1,597-page document is the result of an eight-month meticulous probe into the April 22 attack. The NIA investigation conclusively established that the attack was sponsored from across the border, with Pakistan "unabatedly sponsoring terrorism against India." A key piece of evidence was tracing the origin of two contradictory messages from The Resistance Front (TRF), a front for LeT. The first claimed responsibility for the attack, while a later one denied it; both were traced to digital platforms in Pakistan.
Forensic and material evidence solidified this link. Items recovered from the hideout of the three neutralised Pakistani attackers—including IDs, M4 assault weapons, and chocolates—confirmed their Pakistani nationality and affiliation with LeT. The attackers were killed in July during 'Operation Mahadev.'
The Accused: Handlers, Attackers, and Local Harboureers
The chargesheet lists seven individuals and the LeT/TRF organisation itself. The primary accused is Sajid Jatt (alias Saifullah), a top Lashkar mastermind and Pakistani handler from Kasur, who is already designated as an individual terrorist under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). The NIA states he masterminded the Pahalgam attack under a closely-guarded plan by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and LeT, with instructions to use only foreign terrorists to carry out targeted killings on religious lines.
The other named accused are:
- The three neutralised Pakistani attackers: Faisal Jatt (alias Suleman Shah) from Punjab province, Habeeb Tahir (alias Jibran) from Rawlakote in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, and Abu Hamza.
- Two arrested Kashmiri locals: Parvaiz Ahmad and Bashir Ahmad Jothad, who harboured the Pakistani terrorists days before the attack. Following their arrest in June, they disclosed the identities of the attackers and confessed to being paid Rs 3,000 for their assistance.
A Legal First: Charging a Terror Group as an Entity
This case marks a pivotal legal development. This is the first instance where LeT itself has been chargesheeted as a legal entity. While previous chargesheets for LeT-sponsored attacks, including the 26/11 Mumbai strikes, named individual leaders like Hafiz Mohammad Saeed and Sajid Jatt, the organisation as a whole was not formally charged. The NIA stated the banned LeT/TRF has been charged for its institutional role in "planning, facilitating and executing the Pahalgam attack."
There is a precedent for charging unlawful associations, such as the Popular Front of India (PFI), but applying this to a Pakistan-based terrorist group like LeT is a novel legal strategy. All accused, including the organisation, have been charged under the new Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the Arms Act, the UAPA, and for waging war against India.
The filing of this detailed chargesheet brings the investigation into its judicial phase, aiming to hold both the individuals and the terror machinery accountable for the violence in Pahalgam.
