NIA to file charge sheet in Pahalgam terror attack case in Jammu court on Monday

Almost eight months after the Pahalgam terror attack, in which 26 persons, mostly tourists, were killed by Pakistan-based terrorists, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday chargesheeted six accused in the case, along with the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and its proxy outfit The Resistance Front (TRF) as single entity. The chargesheet, which details Pakistan’s conspiracy, the roles of the accused and supporting evidence, has charged the banned LeT and TRF for their role in planning, facilitating and executing the Pahalgam attack. Pakistani handler Sajid Jatt has been named as an accused in the 1,597-page chargesheet filed before the NIA Special Court in Jammu. The NIA’s chargesheet also names the three Pakistani terrorists killed by Indian security forces during Operation Mahadev at Dachigam in Srinagar in July, weeks after the deadly attack. The three have been identified as Faisal Jatt, alias Suleman Shah, Habeeb Tahir, alias Jibran, and Hamza Afghani. The LeT/TRF, as well as the four abovementioned terrorists, have been charged under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023; the Arms Act, 1959; and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. The NIA has also invoked penal provisions related to waging a war against India.

Through a meticulous scientific probe spanning nearly eight months, the NIA traced the conspiracy to Pakistan, which has been unabatedly sponsoring terrorism against India, sources said.

Two accused -- Parvaiz Ahmad and Bashir Ahmad Jothatd -- who were arrested by the NIA on June 22 for harbouring terrorists, have also been chargesheeted. During interrogation, the two disclosed the identities of the three armed terrorists involved in the attack and confirmed that they were Pakistani nationals affiliated with the proscribed LeT terror outfit.

In Jammu, special security arrangements were put in place when NIA officials reached the special court to file the chargesheet.

LeT commander Sajid Jatt, born in 1982 and a resident of Kasur in Pakistan, has been named as a handler in the chargesheet. He uses aliases, including Habibullah Malik, Saifullah and Usman Habib, and is accused of planning attacks on soldiers in the Poonch district of the Jammu division.

He has been involved in radicalising youths in Kashmir and recruiting them into militancy through his network. According to information available with The Tribune, he was a key handler of terrorists who carried out attacks on soldiers in Bhata Dhurian in Poonch.

Jatt is also alleged to be involved in the dropping of arms and ammunition through drones along the International Border and the Line of Control in the Jammu region. There are reports that he created a network of terrorists and was involved in the fidayeen attack on the Army at Hyderpora in Srinagar in June 2013 and in the killing of the Station House Officer of Chadoora in Budgam in December 2013.

The Pahalgam attack had nearly brought India and Pakistan to the brink of war after India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7 against the neighbouring country. Indian forces bombed several terror camps across the border in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in pre-dawn strikes, in which several terrorists were killed.

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Courtesy: The Tribune -16-Dec-2025