The National Investigation Agency (NIA) charged three Pakistan-based leaders of the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) group who went missing on Monday. They are among five people charged in connection with the January 2023 Rajouri attacks. This is part of the NIA’s plan to continue its work to destroy and dismantle the terrorist ecosystem in Jammu and Kashmir.
People were terrorized in village Dhangri in Rajouri district on January 1, 2016, and the next day, an IED went off, killing several. This case is about those events. Seven innocent people, two of whom were children, were killed and many others were seriously hurt in the attacks.
The three people charged are LeT managers. Their names are Mohd Qasim, Abu Qatal alias Qatal Sindhi, and Saifullah alias Sajid Jutt alias Ali alias Habibullah alias Numan alias Langda alias Noumi.
Abu Qatal and Sajit Jutt were born and raised in Pakistan, but Qasim was sent back to Pakistan around 2002 and joined the LeT terrorist group there.
The NIA said that investigations showed that the three accused from Pakistan planned to recruit and send LeT terrorists from Pakistan to attack innocent civilians, especially from the minority community in Jammu and Kashmir, as well as security forces.
“The attacks were carried out under the directions of these Pakistan-based handlers.”
Saifullah is now a very important LeT Commander, and he and the other two were in charge of planning the whole plot from Pakistan. At the moment, Mohd Qasim works directly for high-level LeT commanders. Along with other attackers, Abu Qatal came to India in 2002 or 2003 and worked in the Poonch-Rajouri range.
Nisar Ahmed alias Haji Nisar and Mushtaq Hussain alias Chacha are the other two people charged. They are both Overground Workers (OGWs) for the LeT and live in Mohra, Gursai, Tehsil Mendhar, District Poonch. The two were nabbed while the NIA was looking into the case.
“During investigations, it was found that they had helped the terrorists with logistics under Abu Qatal’s orders.” Along with a juvenile who was also caught helping and abetting the criminals, they gave the terrorists food, housing, and other types of logistical support for about three months after the attack in Dhangri. “They also tried to hide evidence by destroying the cell phone that was used to communicate secretly with the LeT commanders in Pakistan,” the NIA said.
The counter-terrorism agency said that Nisar also got a package of weapons, ammo, and cash sent by terrorists’ handlers in Pakistan.
It was found through investigations that Nisar met Abu Qatal while the latter was in India. He kept in touch with Abu Qatal even after the latter went back to Pakistan.
The NIA said that the two adults who were caught and the one-person teams in Pakistan were charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and different parts of the Indian Penal Code.
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