NIA court issues non-bailable warrant against Hafiz Saeed

Jammu: A special NIA court has issued a non-bailable warrant against Hafiz Saeed, the Pakistan-based chief of the proscribed terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba, in connection with a case pertaining to the ongoing probe into the Pahalgam terror attack.

The order was passed by the Special Judge of the NIA Court on July 8, two days after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) filed a supplementary chargesheet against Saeed in the Pahalgam terror attack case.

Saeed, designated a global terrorist by India and the United States, is also considered the mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.

The supplementary chargesheet, filed before the special NIA court in Jammu, charges the 76-year-old Saeed in both his personal capacity and as the chief of the proscribed Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and its proxy front, The Resistance Front (TRF). He has been booked under multiple provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.

According to the court order, the NIA informed the court that absconding terrorist Saeed, a resident of Sargodha in Pakistan’s Punjab province, is an accused in Pahalgam terror attack and has been deliberately evading arrest. The agency sought the issuance of an open-dated non-bailable warrant against him to initiate further proceedings in the matter and take legal action against him at any further investigation.

“Arrest and custodial interrogation of the accused (Saeed) are necessary for a fair, complete and effective investigation. As such non-bailable warrant of arrest is issued against him and is forwarded it to the Deputy Inspector General (DIG), NIA Jammu, for execution in accordance with law,” the order said.

On April 22 last year, terrorists killed 26 people, mostly tourists, at Pahalgam in south Kashmir.