The Center on Tuesday designated 18 fugitive or associate terrorists based in Pakistan as “ individual terrorists, ” including those involved in the 1993 Mumbai serial explosions, the 11/26 Mumbai attack, the bombing of Pulwama of 2019, the attack on the IAF base in Pathankot in 2016, the hijacking of IC-814 Indian Airlines in 1999, the attacks of the Indian mujahideen and the terrorist incidents in Jammu and Kashmir over the years, said people familiar with the development.
Among those declared as ‘individual terrorists’, under the amended Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) which allows the seizure of these people’s property, is the asset of Pakistan’s spy agency, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Sajid Mir, who supervised the 11/26 Mumbai attacks from a control room in Karachi; The head of Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) Syed Salahuddin, the brother-in-law of the head of Lashkar-e-Taiba, Hafiz Saeed, Abdur Rehman Makki, the brother of the head of Jaish-e-Mohammad, Maulana Masood Azhar, Abdul Rauf Asghar, founder of the Indian horror group Mujahideen Riyaz Bhatkal and his brother Iqbal Bhatkal, as well as underworld Don Dawood Ibrahim’s right-hand man Chhota Shakeel, and two others in D Company Tiger Memon and Javed Chikna.
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In September 2019, Masood Azhar, Hafiz Saeed, Dawood Ibrahim and Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi were declared ‘individual terrorists’, while nine Khalistani terrorists, including the head of the United States-based Sikhs For Justice Gurpatwant Singh, were so designated in July of this year. .
According to a statement by the Ministry of the Interior (MHA) on Tuesday, “Under the strong and ironclad leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the central government had amended the Illegal Activities (Prevention) Act of 1967 in August 2019 to include the provision to designate a person as a terrorist. Before this amendment, only organizations could be designated as terrorist organizations. Union Interior Minister Amit Shah has unequivocally reaffirmed the nation’s determination to fight terrorism. ”
“Reinforcing the commitment to strengthen national security and its policy of zero tolerance for terrorism, the Modi government today [Tuesday] has declared the next eighteen more people as designated terrorists, ”he said.
While Mir is the main defendant in the 11/26 attacks, Abdul Rauf Asghar, allegedly following the instructions of the Pakistani army and ISI, has carried out multiple attacks against Indian security forces in recent years, including in Pathankot and Pulwama, as well as in Parliament on December 13, 2001.
Another nine designated as “individual terrorists” on Tuesday are commanders of LeT operations in Jammu and Kashmir and are indicted in the Mumbai terror attack on 11/26, Yusuf Muzammil aka Hurreira Bhai; the deputy head of the financial branch of LeT, the Falah-i-lnsaniyat Foundation, Shahid Mehmood; Pakistan-based terrorist involved in the 2002 Akshardham Temple attack and the 2005 suicide attack on the Task Force’s office in Hyderabad Farhatullah Ghori aka Abu Sufiyan; Ibrahim Athar, Masood Azhar’s cousin who was involved in the hijacking of Indian Airlines Flight No. 1C-814 on December 24, 1999 (the Kandahar hijacking case), and was also the key conspirator in the Parliament terror attack Indian; Yusuf Azhar, another accused of kidnapping IC-814; Shahid Latif, a JeM commander from the Sialkot sector involved in sending JeM terrorists to India; Ghulam Nabi Khan, Supreme Deputy of Hizbul Mujahideen (HM); Zaffar Hussain Bhat, Deputy Chief of Hizbul Mujahideen; and Mohammad Anis Shaikh, a man from Company D, who was involved in the 1993 Bombay serial explosion, and was responsible for supplying weapons, ammunition and hand grenades.
“These individuals are involved in various acts of terrorism across the border and have been relentless in their nefarious efforts to destabilize the country,” the MHA said.
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