Union home minister Amit Shah (File photo)
NEW DELHI: Demonstrating its commitment to a ‘zero-tolerance’ policy against terrorism, govt Saturday designated 23 Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir-based functionaries of Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish and other terror outfits and affiliates as ‘individual terrorists’ under Schedule 4 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.Home minister Amit Shah said the 23 designated terrorists “are involved in anti-India activities, carrying out terror attacks, inciting terror, trafficking arms, infiltrating through the border, facilitating terrorist organisations, raising funds and recruiting terrorists”. He said that of the 23 terrorists, 17 are Pakistani nationals and six are Indians. “However, all of them operate terrorist activities from Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.”As per the dossiers prepared by intelligence agencies, the 23 terrorists were linked to attacks on security forces at Pathankot (2016), Pampore (2016), Nagrota (2016), Sunjuwan (2022) and Pampore (2016); terror strikes in the hinterland targeted at civilians, like the Rameshwaram Cafe blast (2024) and Mangalore cooker blast; and also conducting reconnaissance of sites like the Ram Mandir complex and the RSS headquarters for future terror attacks. One of the six Indians, Mohammed Shaheed, hails from Bengaluru but is currently based in Rawalpindi and recruits youth via social media for terror activities.The action comes a few days after 117 eminent citizens of India and Pakistan, including J&K politicians Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, jointly wrote to the PMs of India and Pakistan, seeking a thaw in hostilities.Among those slapped with the ‘terrorist’ tag are Hafiz Khalid Walid, son-in-law of LeT chief Hafiz Mohammed Sayeed and mastermind of the 2016 Pampore attack in which eight CRPF personnel were killed. Masood Ilyas Kashmiri, a close confidant of Jaish chief Maulana Masood Azhar and key coordinator of infiltration into Kashmir, is also on the list.Maulana Imdad Ullakh Makki, who heads Jaish’s prisoner wing and legal affairs department, was involved in real-time coordination with terrorists who struck at the Pathankot air base in Jan 2016, while another terrorist, Ashfaq Ahmed, was one of the subscribers of the Pakistani mobile numbers used in the attack. Mufti Mohammad Asghar Khan, who serves as head of Jaish’s military wing in PoK, runs training camps in Muzaffarabad and was a key conspirator behind the 2016 Nagrota attack. Qari Yaqub Sheikh, who contested the 2018 Pakistan general election on a Mili Muslim League ticket is, as per the MHA notification, the primary fundraiser for LeT from Saudi Arabia.
