Pahalgam Terror Attack: Significant legal action has been taken regarding the terror attack that occurred last year in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir. A court has issued a non-bailable warrant (NBW) against Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed in connection with this case. According to reports, the Jammu court issued this warrant based on a petition filed by the NIA, which identified Hafiz Saeed as the mastermind behind the Pahalgam terror attack. It is worth noting that 26 civilians lost their lives in the Pahalgam terror attack.
Process to declare him a fugitive to begin
The NIA named Hafiz Saeed as an accused in the Pahalgam terror attack case in a supplementary charge sheet filed on July 10. Following the court’s order, the path is now clear for a trial against Hafiz Saeed in absentia. The NIA informed the court that Hafiz Saeed is currently in Pakistan and bringing him to India is not feasible at present. Under the new criminal laws, there is a provision for conducting a trial in absentia against an absconding accused. Legal proceedings to declare Hafiz Saeed a fugitive will now also be initiated.
Conspiracy hatched in Pakistan
According to the NIA, the conspiracy for the Pahalgam attack was hatched in Pakistan. The investigative agency stated that Hafiz Saeed played a pivotal role in the plot. The NIA noted that all legal avenues for extradition from Pakistan have effectively been exhausted. The initial charge sheet filed by the NIA named three Pakistani terrorists—Suleman, Jibran, and Hamza Afghani—as accused. The name of Sajid Saifullah Jatt, a Pakistani terrorist affiliated with Lashkar, was also included as an accused in the charge sheet. Bashir Ahmed and Parvez Ahmed from Pahalgam have also been named as accused.
About the Pahalgam attack
It is pertinent to mention that Pakistani terrorists carried out the terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, on April 22, 2025. Twenty-six people, mostly tourists, were killed in this attack. A particularly harrowing aspect was that the terrorists asked victims about their religion before killing them. A wave of outrage swept across the country following the attack. In response, India launched a retaliatory military operation against Pakistan named ‘Operation Sindoor’. During this operation, Indian forces destroyed military and terrorist infrastructure located in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK). Nine terrorist hideouts—including strongholds of Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed—were destroyed in the process. Additionally, a dozen Pakistani airbases were also destroyed.
