December 15: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday filed a chargesheet against seven accused in connection with the Pahalgam terror attack, including the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and its offshoot, The Resistance Front (TRF).
The 1,597-page chargesheet, submitted before the NIA Special Court in Jammu, details Pakistan’s role in orchestrating the conspiracy, the involvement of the accused, and the supporting evidence. For the first time in the case, the banned LeT/TRF has been chargesheeted as a legal entity for planning, facilitating and executing the attack, which involved religion-based targeted killings and left 25 tourists and one local civilian dead.
Pakistan-based handler Sajid Jatt has been named as an accused. The chargesheet also includes three Pakistani terrorists—Faisal Jatt alias Suleman Shah, Habeeb Tahir alias Jibran, and Hamza Afghani—who were killed by Indian security forces during Operation Mahadev at Dachigam, Srinagar, in July 2025.
LeT/TRF and the four terrorists have been charged under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, the Arms Act, 1959, and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, including sections related to waging war against India.
The NIA said its nearly eight-month-long scientific investigation traced the conspiracy in case RC-02/2025/NIA/JMU to Pakistan, which it accused of persistently sponsoring terrorism against India.
Two local accused, Parvaiz Ahmad and Bashir Ahmad Jothatd, arrested on June 22, 2025, for harbouring terrorists, have also been chargesheeted. During interrogation, they identified the three attackers and confirmed they were Pakistani nationals linked to the proscribed LeT.
Further investigation in the case is ongoing.
