The National Investigation Agency on Monday charged seven persons in the Pahalgam terror attack case.
Those charged include Pakistani handler Sajid Jatt of the terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba and its affiliate The Resistance Front. The Pakistan-based organisations were also charged as one legal entity for their role in planning, facilitating and executing the attack.
The terror attack at Baisaran near Pahalgam town in Jammu and Kashmir on April 22 left 26 persons dead and 16 injured. The terrorists targeted tourists after asking their names to ascertain their religion, the police said. All but three of those killed were Hindu.
The chargesheet also named three Pakistani terrorists who were killed by the Indian security forces during a security operation codenamed Mahadev on July 28. They were identified as Faisal Jatt alias Suleman Shah, Habeeb Tahir alias Jibran and Hamza Afghani.
The terror group and the four persons were charged under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the 1959 Arms Act and the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. The investigating agency also invoked a section against the persons accused in the matter for waging war against the country.
In a press statement on Monday, the National Investigation Agency also said that it had traced the conspiracy in the case to Pakistan.
In June, the agency arrested two men, Parvaiz Ahmad Jothar and Bashir Ahmad Jothar, for allegedly harbouring the terrorists who carried out the attack. They have also been named in the chargesheet.
“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,” the agency said.
Further investigation in the case is underway, the National Investigation Agency said.
On September 24, the Jammu and Kashmir Police also arrested 26-year-old Muhammad Yousuf Katari in Kulgam district for allegedly providing logistical support to the terrorists.
