Pahalgam terror attack: NIA names LeT, TRF in chargesheet, cites Pak role

The 1,597-page chargesheet, filed by the NIA before a special court, details the deep conspiracy traced back to Pakistan, which the agency said has been "unabatedly sponsoring terrorism against India"

The NIA on Monday filed a comprehensive chargesheet against six people and two terrorist organisations, Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba and its shadow outfit TRF, in connection with the Pahalgam terror attack, which claimed the lives of 25 tourists and a local pony operator.

The 1,597-page chargesheet, filed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) before a special court, details the deep conspiracy traced back to Pakistan, which the probe agency said has been "unabatedly sponsoring terrorism against India".

The NIA has named Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) headed by Hafeez Saeed, who has been designated as a global terrorist by the US as well as India, along with The Resistance Front (TRF) headed by Habibullah Malik alias Sajid Jatt, in the chargesheet for their role in planning, facilitating, and executing the Pahalgam attack that took place in the Baisaran meadows on April 22 this year.

"Pakistani handler terrorist Sajid Jatt is also named as an accused in the chargesheet, filed before the NIA special court, Jammu," a statement issued by the anti-terror agency said.

The chargesheet also names the three Pakistani terrorists, who carried out the killings on religious lines on April 22 at Baisaran meadows in Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir. All the three were killed by the Army during the Operation Mahadev at Dachigam located in the outskirts of Srinagar on July 29, almost 100 days after the deadly terror attack.

The three were identified as Faisal Jatt alias Suleman Shah, Habeeb Tahir alias Jibran, and Hamza Afghani, the NIA statement said.

In its chargesheet, the NIA has also invoked the penal section against the accused for waging war against India.

The agency's eight-month long "meticulous scientific probe" led to the chargesheet.

Two accused persons, Parvaiz Ahmad and Bashir Ahmad Jothar, who were arrested on June 22 for harbouring the terrorists, have also been named in the chargesheet by the NIA.

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.