SRINAGAR: Almost eight months after the April 22 Pahalgam massacre that left 26 people dead, including 25 tourists and one local civilian, federal investigator, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday filed a comprehensive chargesheet naming Pakistan-based terrorist Sajid Jatt, the banned Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), and its proxy outfit The Resistance Front (TRF) as accused in the case.
According to the NIA, the 1,597-page chargesheet was filed before the NIA Special Court in Jammu by senior officers who investigated the case after it was taken over by the agency. The chargesheet names six accused in total and also charges LeT and TRF as a single legal entity for their role in planning, facilitating, and executing the deadly attack.
In an official statement issued after the filing of the chargesheet, the NIA said that a meticulous scientific probe spanning nearly eight months traced the conspiracy behind the Pahalgam attack to Pakistan, which, it said, has been unabatedly sponsoring terrorism against India.
Pakistan-based handler Sajid Jatt has been named as an accused along with three Pakistani terrorists who were eliminated by security forces during Operation Mahadev at Dachigam in Srinagar in July 2025, weeks after the Pahalgam attack. The three terrorists have been identified as Faisal Jatt alias Suleman Shah, Habeeb Tahir alias Jibran, and Hamza Afghani.
The NIA has charged LeT, TRF, and the four terrorists, Sajid Jatt and the three eliminated militants, under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, the Arms Act, 1959, and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. Penal provisions related to waging war against the country have also been invoked.
Two residents accused, Parvaiz Ahmad Jothar, a resident of Batkote, Pahalgam, and Bashir Ahmad Jothar of Hill Park, Pahalgam, who were arrested by the NIA on June 22, 2025, for harbouring terrorists, have also been chargesheeted. The agency said that during interrogation, the two disclosed the identities of the three armed terrorists involved in the attack and confirmed that they were Pakistani nationals affiliated with the proscribed LeT outfit.
The chargesheet details Pakistan’s conspiracy, the specific roles of the accused, and the supporting evidence collected during the investigation. It also states that the April 22 attack involved religion-based targeted killings carried out by Pakistan-sponsored terrorists, resulting in the deaths of 25 tourists and one local civilian.
Special security arrangements were put in place in Jammu when NIA officials arrived to file the chargesheet before the special court. After the chargesheet was submitted, the Special NIA Court listed the matter for the next crucial stage, arguments on charge or discharge, on January 5, 2026.
The NIA has said that further investigation is continuing to establish the full conspiracy behind the Pahalgam attack and to identify the wider support network involved.
The chargesheet also provides details about Sajid Jatt’s background and alleged activities. Identified as a LeT commander, Sajid Jatt was born in 1982 and is a resident of Kasur in Pakistan. He uses multiple aliases, including Habibullah Malik, Saifullah, and Usman Habib, and is accused of planning attacks on soldiers in the Poonch district of the Jammu division.
According to information cited in the chargesheet, Jatt has allegedly been involved in radicalising youths in Kashmir and recruiting them into militancy through his network. He is also described as a key handler of terrorists involved in attacks on soldiers in Bhata Dhurian in Poonch. The NIA has further alleged that he was involved in the dropping of arms and ammunition through drones along the International Border and the Line of Control in the Jammu region.
The agency has also linked him to earlier militant attacks, including the fidayeen attack on the Army at Hyderpora in Srinagar in June 2013 and the killing of the Station House Officer of Chadoora in Budgam in December 2013.
The Pahalgam attack had sharply escalated tensions between India and Pakistan, nearly bringing the two countries to the brink of war. In its aftermath, the Indian Armed Forces carried out Operation Sindoor from May 7 to May 10, launching deep strikes inside Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK). According to official accounts, the operation targeted terror infrastructure and military installations, resulting in the killing of a large number of terrorists and their commanders. Terror infrastructure, including training camps and headquarters of militant outfits, suffered what was described as huge damage, and several military installations were also destroyed.
The NIA has reiterated that its investigation into the Pahalgam terror attack remains ongoing as it seeks to establish the complete chain of conspiracy and accountability behind one of the deadliest attacks on tourists in Jammu and Kashmir in recent years.
