A non-bailable warrant has been issued by a special NIA court against Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed in connection with a case related to the ongoing probe into the Pahalgam terror attack.
The order was passed by the Special Judge of the NIA Court on July 8. This came two days after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) filed a supplementary chargesheet against Saeed, who is based in Pakistan, in the Pahalgam terror attack case, PTI reported.
As many as 26 people, mostly tourists, were killed by terrorists at Pahalgam in south Kashmir on April 22 last year.
Being a designated global terrorist by India and the United States, Saeed has also been considered the mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.
The supplementary chargesheet was filed before the special NIA court in Jammu. It has charged Saeed in both his personal capacity as well as the chief of LeT and its proxy front, The Resistance Front (TRF). The 76-year-old has been booked under various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, along with the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.
As per the court order, the central agency informed the court that the absconding terrorist is an accused in Pahalgam terror attack and was deliberately evading arrest, PTI reported.
Notably, Saeed is a resident of Sargodha in Pakistan’s Punjab province.
The agency had earlier asked for an open-dated non-bailable warrant against Saeed to initiate further proceedings in the matter and take legal action against him.
“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,” read the court’s order.