Early Times Report
Jammu, July 14: In a significant development in the investigation into the 2025 Pahalgam terror attack, a Special National Investigation Agency (NIA) Court has issued a non-bailable warrant (NBW) against Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) founder Hafiz Saeed, who has been named as the principal conspirator behind the deadly attack that claimed the lives of 26 civilians.
The warrant was issued eight days after the NIA filed a supplementary chargesheet naming the 76-year-old globally designated terrorist as an accused in both his personal capacity and as chief of the proscribed Lashkar-e-Taiba and its proxy outfit, The Resistance Front (TRF).
According to an official statement, the Special Judge of the NIA Court passed the order on July 8, two days after the supplementary chargesheet was filed on July 6 as part of the agency's ongoing investigation into the April 22, 2025 terror attack in Pahalgam.
Saeed has been booked under various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. The NIA informed the court that the Pakistan-based terror mastermind, a resident of Sargodha in Pakistan's Punjab province, has been deliberately evading arrest despite being wanted in multiple terror cases.
Seeking an open-dated non-bailable warrant, the agency argued that Saeed's arrest and custodial interrogation were essential for conducting a fair, complete and effective investigation into the larger conspiracy behind the attack.
Allowing the plea, the court observed, "Arrest and custodial interrogation of the accused are necessary for a fair, complete and effective investigation. As such, a non-bailable warrant of arrest is issued against him and is forwarded to the Deputy Inspector General (DIG), NIA Jammu, for execution in accordance with law."
Hafiz Saeed, who is also considered the mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks that left 166 people dead, was formally named as the main conspirator in the supplementary chargesheet filed before the Special NIA Court in Jammu.
Earlier, on December 15, 2025, the NIA had filed its first chargesheet in the case against Pakistani terrorist handler Sajid Jatt, three terrorists who were subsequently killed by security forces during Operation Mahadev in July 2025, and two arrested accused. The agency had also chargesheeted Lashkar-e-Taiba and The Resistance Front as legal entities for allegedly planning, facilitating and executing the Pahalgam terror attack.
The April 22, 2025 attack in the Baisaran area of Pahalgam involved religion-based targeted killings by Pakistan-sponsored terrorists. Twenty-five tourists and one local resident were shot dead, making it one of the deadliest terror attacks on civilians in Jammu and Kashmir in recent years.
The case was initially registered as FIR No. 25/2025 at Police Station Pahalgam in Anantnag district. Following a preliminary investigation by the Jammu and Kashmir Police, the Ministry of Home Affairs transferred the probe to the NIA.
The agency said it continues to investigate Case RC-02/2025/NIA/JMU to unravel the larger cross-border conspiracy allegedly orchestrated from Pakistan. According to the NIA, the supplementary chargesheet is based on extensive investigation and presents what it describes as a meticulously planned terror conspiracy involving handlers linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba and its proxy outfit, The Resistance Front.
The NIA further stated that both technical and human intelligence have established "clear and compelling evidence" connecting the three slain attackers with their Pakistan-based handlers, strengthening the agency's case regarding cross-border involvement in the massacre. |