Centre designates 18 Pakistan-based terrorists as ‘individual terrorists’

The Centre, on Tuesday, designated 18 Pakistan-based fugitive terrorists or associates as ‘individual terrorists’, together with these concerned within the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, the 26/11 Mumbai assault, the 2019 Pulwama bombing, the 2016 Pathankot IAF base assault, the 1999 IC-814 Indian Airlines hijacking, Indian Mujahideen assaults, and terror incidents in Jammu and Kashmir over time, individuals accustomed to the event mentioned.

Among these declared as ‘individual terrorists’, beneath the amended Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) that permits the seizure of properties of those individuals, are Pakistan spy company Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) asset Sajid Mir, who monitored the 26/11 Mumbai assaults from a management room in Karachi; Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) chief Syed Salahuddin, Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed’s brother-in-law Abdur Rehman Makki, Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Maulana Masood Azhar’s brother Abdul Rauf Asghar, founding father of terror outfit Indian Mujahideen Riyaz Bhatkal and his brother Iqbal Bhatkal, in addition to underworld don Dawood Ibrahim’s proper hand man Chhota Shakeel, and two others in D Company Tiger Memon and Javed Chikna.

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In September 2019, Masood Azhar, Hafiz Saeed, Dawood Ibrahim and Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi had been declared ‘individual terrorists’ whereas 9 Khalistani terrorists, together with the US-based head of Sikhs For Justice Gurpatwant Singh, had been designated so in July this 12 months.

According to an announcement by the ministry of residence affairs (MHA) on Tuesday, “Under the strong and iron-willed leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Central government had amended the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 in August 2019, to include the provision of designating an individual as a terrorist. Prior to this amendment, only organisations could be designated as terrorist organisations. Union Home Minister Amit Shah has unequivocally reaffirmed the nation’s resolve to fight terrorism.”

“Reinforcing the commitment of strengthening national security and its policy of zero tolerance to terrorism, the Modi government today [Tuesday] has declared the following eighteen more individuals as designated terrorists,” it mentioned.

While Mir is the primary accused within the 26/11 assaults, Abdul Rauf Asghar, allegedly on the instructions of the Pakistan military and ISI, has carried out a number of assaults on Indian safety forces in the previous couple of years, together with in Pathankot and Pulwama, in addition to on Parliament on December 13, 2001.

Nine others designated as ‘individual terrorists’ on Tuesday are commander of LeT operations in Jammu & Kashmir and accused within the 26/11 Mumbai Terror assault Yusuf Muzammil alias Hurreira Bhai; deputy chief of LeT’s monetary arm Falah-i-lnsaniyat Foundation Shahid Mehmood; Pakistan-based terrorist concerned within the 2002 Akshardham Temple assault and the 2005 suicide assault on Task Force workplace in Hyderabad Farhatullah Ghori alias Abu Sufiyan; Ibrahim Athar, Masood Azhar’s cousin who was concerned within the hijacking of the Indian Airlines Flight No. lC-814 on December 24, 1999 (the Kandahar hijacking case), and was additionally the important thing conspirator within the Indian Parliament terrorist assault; Yusuf Azhar, one other IC-814 hijacking accused; Shahid Latif, a JeM commander of Sialkot sector concerned in sending JeM terrorists into India; Ghulam Nabi Khan, the deputy supreme of Hizbul Mujahideen (HM); Zaffar Hussain Bhat, the deputy chief of Hizbul Mujahideen; and D Company man Mohammad Anis Shaikh who was concerned within the Bombay serial blast case, 1993, and was accountable for the provision of arms, ammunition and hand grenades.

“These individuals are involved in various acts of terrorism from across the border and have been relentless in their nefarious efforts of destabilising the country,” the MHA mentioned.