Ahmad Taimur
Srinagar, Dec 15: The National Investigation Agency on Monday filed the chargesheet in the Pahalgam terror attack that had left 26 civilians, mostly tourists, dead on April 22 this year, naming six persons, including three dead terrorists and a Pakistan-based handler as accused in the case.
The anti-terror agency filed the chargesheet in the terror attack case after 7-and-a-half months in a special designated court in Jammu.
According to details available, the NIA has named the banned terror outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba and its proxy offshoot – The Resistance Front (TRF) in the chargesheet.
It has also named three Pakistani terrorists, who were involved in the attack and later killed in operation Mahadev in Srinagar, in the chargesheet. The terrorists include, Sulaiman Shah, Hamza Afghani and Jibran.
Two over ground workers (OGWs), who had provided logistics support, shelter and food day before the attack to the terrorists, have also been named in the chargesheet. They include Bashir Ahmad Jothar and Parvez Ahmad. The NIA also produced blood samples and hair strands of the deceased as evidence in the special court while submitting the chargesheet.
At least 26 civilians were killed and many others were injured after terrorists attacked a group of tourists in the Baisaran Valley of Pahalgam on April 22 this year. This was one of the deadliest terror attacks in the country in recent history.
To avenge the attack, India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7 and 8 to destroy terror camps deep inside Pakistan and Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, killing dozens of terrorists.
Meanwhile, in a statement, the NIA said that the chargesheet details Pakistan’s conspiracy, roles of the accused, and supporting evidence in the case.
The NIA has charged the banned LeT/TRF as a legal entity for its role in planning, facilitating, and executing the attack. “The attack involved religion-based targeted killings by the Pak-sponsored terrorists”.
Pakistani handler terrorist Sajid Jatt is also named as an accused in the 1,597-page chargesheet. “LeT/TRF, as well as the four terrorists, have been charged under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, the Arms Act, 1959, and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967,” reads the statement.
In its chargesheet, the NIA has also invoked the penal section against the accused for waging war against India. “The NIA, through a meticulous scientific probe spanning the past almost 8 months, had traced the conspiracy in the case to Pakistan, which has been unabatedly sponsoring terrorism against India,” it said.
The two accused persons – Parvaiz Ahmad and Bashir Ahmad Jothar – chargesheeted in the case were arrested by the NIA on June 22 this year for harbouring 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,” it said. (KNO)
