NIA charges LeT chief Hafiz Saeed in Pahalgam attack

The NIA filed a supplementary chargesheet against Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed in the Pahalgam terror attack case, accusing him of orchestrating the cross-border conspiracy and invoking charges of waging war against India under the BNS and UAPA

New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday filed a supplementary chargesheet against Hafiz Saeed, Pakistan-based chief of the banned terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), in the Pahalgam terror attack case.

Saeed, already designated a global terrorist by India and the United States and recognised as the mastermind behind the 2008 Mumbai attacks, has been charged in his individual capacity as well as in his role as the head of LeT and its active proxy front, The Resistance Front (TRF).

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The supplementary chargesheet was submitted before the special NIA court in Jammu in which 76-year-old Saeed has been charged under various sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023 and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.

“NIA has also invoked the penal section against the accused for waging war against India and hatching a conspiracy from across the border in the chargesheet,” a statement issued by the probe agency said.

The supplementary chargesheet provides details of Pakistan’s conspiracy, Saeed’s role, and supporting evidence collected by the NIA in the case through meticulous scientific investigation and on-ground examination, it said.

Saeed is one of the world’s most wanted trans-national terrorists, primarily recognised as the co-founder and chief of LeT formed in the late 1980s. He founded LeT, one of the largest and most active terror networks in South Asia, especially for his operations to target India.

He was the primary mastermind behind the devastating 2008 Mumbai attacks, where he orchestrated the logistics and training for the attackers who killed 166 people.

In order to fund his terror operations and evade international ban, Saeed set up prominent charity fronts, such as Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) and the Falah-e-Insaniyat Foundation (FIF), which were used to radicalise people and channel millions of dollars into financing of terror.

Because of his global operations, Saeed has also been designated a global terrorist by the United Nations Security Council, apart from India and the US.

The NIA chargesheet was in continuation of the original 1,597-page chargesheet filed by the anti-terror agency on December 15 last year in which it named Pakistani handler Sajid Jatt as an accused, along with three terrorists killed by security forces during Operation Mahadev in July 2025.

The chargesheet filed in December also named two arrested accused — Parvaiz Ahmad and Bashir Ahmad Jothar, who had provided logistical support to the terrorists.

It also charged the proscribed LeT/TRF terrorist organisation as a legal entity for its role in planning, facilitating, and executing the Pahalgam terror attack.

“The deadly attack in Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir on 22nd April, 2025 involved religion-based targeted killings by the Pak-sponsored terrorists. Twenty-five innocent tourists and one local civilian were killed in the attack,” the NIA statement said.

An FIR was initially registered by police station Pahalgam under Anantnag district in South Kashmir and after initial investigation by the Jammu and Kashmir Police, the case was transferred to the NIA by the Ministry of Home Affairs.

“NIA continues to probe the case to unravel the complete conspiracy by Pakistan, which has been actively sponsoring terrorism on Indian soil from across the border,” the statement said.