In a significant development, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday filed a 1,597-page chargesheet against seven accused, including terrorist groups, in connection with the 22 April Pahalgam terror attack case, as reported by news agency PTI.
The chargesheet has named Pakistan-based terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), its proxy, The Resistance Front (TRF) and a handler based in the neighbouring country, among others. It details Pakistan’s conspiracy, the role of the accused, and supporting evidence in the terror attack case.
The NIA has charged the banned LeT and TRF as a legal entity for their role in planning, facilitating, and executing the brutal terror attack in Pahalgam district of Jammu and Kashmir.
The Pakistan-sponsored militants had killed 25 tourists and a local pony operator in the religion-based targeted attack.
"Pakistani handler terrorist Sajid Jatt is also named as an accused in the 1,597-page chargesheet, filed before the NIA special court, Jammu," a statement issued by the anti-terror agency said.
The chargesheet further named the three Pakistani terrorists who were later gunned down by the Indian Army during Operation Mahadev at Dachigam in Srinagar on 29 July, 99 days after the deadly terror attack. They were identified as Faisal Jatt alias Suleman Shah, Habeeb Tahir alias Jibran, and Hamza Afghani.
Two other accused, identified as Parvaiz Ahmad and Bashir Ahmad Jothar, arrested by the NIA on 22 June for harbouring militants, have also been chargesheeted in the case.
During the probe, the two men had revealed the identities of the three armed terrorists involved in the attack, and had also confirmed that they were Pakistani nationals affiliated to the proscribed Lashkar-e-Taiba terror outfit.
The investigation agency, in its chargesheet, also invoked the penal section against the terror accused for waging war against India.
Through a meticulous scientific probe spanning almost eight months, the NIA had traced the conspiracy in the case to Pakistan, which has been unabatedly sponsoring terrorism against India.
Following the Pahalgam terror attack, the Indian armed forces had launched missile strikes on several terror hideouts in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) under ‘Operation Sindoor’. Indian forces had attacked the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) stronghold of Bahawalpur and Lashkar-e-Taiba's base in Muridke.
