India Designates 23 Pakistan-Linked Individuals as Terrorists Under Anti-Terror Law
The Union Home Ministry has designated 23 individuals associated with Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jamaat-ud-Dawa, and The Resistance Front (TRF) as terrorists under Section 35 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
The individuals are accused of involvement in recruitment, training, infiltration, logistics support, financing, arms supply, drone-based weapons delivery, and planning or facilitating terror attacks in India. The designations, notified in a government order, specifically reference the April 22, 2022 attack on security forces at Sunjwan, Jammu, and the November 29, 2016 attack on the Indian Army camp at Nagrota, Jammu.
The UAPA, enacted in 1967, empowers the central government to designate an individual as a terrorist if it believes that person is involved in terrorism. Including names in the list allows the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to block finances, impose arms embargoes, and seize assets. In 2019, the law was amended to include individuals, whereas previously only organizations could be listed.
Of the 23 individuals designated, 17 are Pakistani nationals and 6 are Indian nationals. However, all are currently operating from Pakistan or Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir. The list includes JeM members such as Masood Ilyas Kashmiri, Mohammad Mussadiq alias Doctor, Mufti Muhammad Asghar Khan alias Abu Saad, Hafiz Abdul Shakoor alias Qari Zarrar, Abdullah Jehadi, Ghulam Fareed, Maulana Imdad Ullah Makki, and Waseem Noor Jat. From LeT, the list includes Firdous Ahmad Bhat, Haroon Rashid Ganai, Bilal Ahmad Mir, Abid Quyoom Lone, Nazir Ahmed Gujjar, Abdul Rauf alias Hafiz Abdul Rauf, Ashfaq Ahmad, Hafiz Khalid Waleed, Maulana Saifullah Khalid, Mohammad Yaqoob, Molana Yousaf Taibi, Owais Farooz, Qari Yaqub Sheikh, Rana Iftikhar, and Mohammed Shaheed Faisal, who is also linked to Al Qaeda and ISIS.
