SRINAGAR: The Centre has designated 18 key operatives and leaders of groups such Lashkar e Taiba (LeT), Hizb Ul Mujahideen (HM), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Indian Mujahideen and members of Dawood Ibrahim gang as individual terrorists under the recently amended Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA)., reported The Indian Express.
According to report, those in the list include key 26/11 conspirators Sajid Mir and Yusuf Muzammil alias Muzammil Butt; IC 814 case accused and JeM leaders Ibrahim Athar and Yusuf Azhar; JeM chief Masood Azhar’s brother Rauf Asghar, who is key conspirator in Parliament Attack, Pathankot Airbase attack and the Pulwama CRPF convoy attack cases; Indian Mujahideen founders Riyaz and Iqbal Bhatkal; HuM chief Syed Salauddin and Dawood’s close aides Chhota Shakeel and Anees Shaikh apart from 1993 blasts accused Tiger Memon among others. All these are said to be in Pakistan currently.
“Reinforcing the commitment of strengthening national security and its policy of zero tolerance to terrorism, the Modi Government today has declared… eighteen more individuals as designated terrorists, under the provisions of the UAPA Act 1967 (as amended in 2019) and included their names in the Fourth Schedule of the said Act, ” an MHA statement said on Tuesday.
Among other individuals designated as terrorists through the latest order is Abdur Rehman Makki, brother-in-law of LeT chief Hafiz Saeed. Makki is also Head of LeT political affairs and served as Head of LeT’s foreign relations department.
Another inclusion is that of Shahid Mehmood alias Shahid Mehmood Rehmatullah. Mehmood is Pakistan based Deputy Chief of proscribed organization Falah-i-lnsaniyat Foundation (FIF), a frontal organisation of LeT. Notably, the National Investigation Agency is already probing a case of funding of terror activities in India by FIF in the name of religious donations.
Farhatullah Ghori alias Abu Sufiyan who accused of involvement in the 2002 Akshardham Temple Attack and the suicide attack on the Task Force office at Hyderabad in 2005, is also among those designated as terrorist.
Apart from this, Shahid Latif alias Chota Shahid Bhai who is Pakistan based Commander of JeM’s Sialkot sector, and is involved in the launching of JeM militants into India has been included in the list, said the report.
Among HM leaders in the list, apart from Salauddin, are Ghulam Nabi Khan and Zafar Hussain Bhat.
While Khan is said to be “Deputy Supreme” of HM in Pakistan, Bhat handles the outfit’s Financial affairs and is responsible for sending funds for HM operatives in the Kashmir Valley. In the Dawood gang, Javed Chikna has also been designated as a terrorist.
“These individuals are involved in various acts of terrorism from across the border and have been relentless in their nefarious efforts of destabilizing the country,” the MHA statement said.
The Centre had amended the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 in August 2019, to include the provision of designating an individual as a terrorist. Prior to this amendment, only organizations could be designated as terrorist organizations.
In first orders under the new Act, in September last year, the government had declared LeT’s Hafiz Saeed and Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, JeM’s Masood Azhar and underworld don Dawood Ibrahim as terrorists. Later nine leaders of the Khalistan movement were designated as terrorists, reported The Indian Express.
