New Delhi, Jul 4 (KNS): The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Saturday designated 23 operatives of banned terror outfits Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), The Resistance Front (TRF) and Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) as individual terrorists under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), officials said.
The Centre, in separate notifications accessed news agency Kashmir News Service (KNS) said the designated individuals were involved in a host of anti-national activities, including recruitment of youth, cross-border infiltration, terror financing, arms smuggling, and providing logistical support for terror attacks in India.
Of the 23 designated operatives, 11 are natives of Jammu and Kashmir, while the remaining are Pakistani nationals, the notifications said. Seven of the J&K natives are currently based in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and four are residing in Pakistan, according to the MHA.
The seven J&K natives based in PoK have been identified as Masood Ilyas Kashmiri (Rawalkot), Mufti Muhammad Asghar Khan (Abbaspur), Hafiz Abdul Shakoor (Kotli), Abdullah Jehadi (Kundalshahi, Neelum), Ghulam Fareed (Bading, Bimber), Bilal Ahmad Mir of Sopore (Muzaffarabad) and Abid Qayoom Lone of Baramulla (PoK).
The four J&K natives currently residing in Pakistan are Haroon Rashid Ganai of Anantnag, Nazir Ahmed Gujjar of Doda, Owais Farooz Mir of Pulwama and Mohammed Shaheed Faisal, originally from Bengaluru, who is now based in Rawalpindi, the notifications said.
According to the Ministry, the operatives were involved in recruiting and training terrorists, facilitating infiltration into Jammu and Kashmir, planning and executing terror attacks, supplying arms and ammunition through drones and cross-border networks, raising funds and managing terror camps operating from across the border.
The government also linked several JeM operatives to the 2016 Nagrota Army camp attack and the 2022 Sunjwan attack on security forces, among other terror incidents.
Among the senior Pakistan-based operatives designated under UAPA are Abdul Rauf, Hafiz Khalid Waleed, Maulana Saifullah Khalid, Mohammad Yaqoob, Molana Yousaf Taibi, Qari Yaqub Sheikh, Rana Iftikhar, Waseem Noor Jat, Ashfaq Ahmad, Maulana Imdad Ullah Makki and Mohammad Mussadiq.
In a separate notification, the MHA alleged that Mohammed Shaheed Faisal has links with LeT, JeM, Al-Qaeda and ISIS modules. It accused him of recruiting youth through social media, arranging weapons training in Pakistan, raising funds, training operatives in encrypted communications and fake identities, and facilitating the delivery of arms and ammunition.
The Centre exercised its powers under Section 35 of the UAPA after concluding that the 23 individuals were involved in terrorism, the MHA said, adding that the notifications were issued based on evidence of their active role in fomenting terror activities in India.
With the latest additions, the total number of designated individual terrorists under the Fourth Schedule of the UAPA has risen to 80, officials added. (KNS)