'Pakistan handlers planned, executed Pahalgam attack': NIA files chargesheet; full details

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed a comprehensive chargesheet against six people and two terrorist outfits, Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba and its shadow outfit TRF, in connection with the Pahalgam terror attack, news agency PTI reported on Monday.  

The chargesheet, running to 1,597 pages, was submitted before a special NIA court in Jammu on Monday. The probe agency said its investigation traced the planning of the attack to Pakistan. 

The two groups named are Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and The Resistance Front. LeT is led by Hafeez Saeed, who is designated a terrorist by India and the United States. TRF is a proxy of LeT and is led by Habibullah Malik, also known as Sajid Jatt.

The chargesheet has charged the banned LeT/TRF for its role in planning, facilitating, and executing the Pahalgam attack. 

Sajid Jatt, described as a Pakistan-based handler, has been named as an accused in the case. The chargesheet also names three Pakistani nationals who carried out the attack at Baisaran meadows in Pahalgam on 22 April, the agency said. 

The three terrorists were killed by the Army during Operation Mahadev in Dachigam, near Srinagar, on 29 July. They have been identified as Faisal Jatt, also known as Suleman Shah, Habeeb Tahir, also known as Jibran, and Hamza Afghani. 

The NIA said the chargesheet includes provisions related to waging war against India. It said the document was the result of an eight-month investigation.

Two local men, Parvaiz Ahmad and Bashir Ahmad Jothar, who were arrested in June for allegedly sheltering the attackers, have also been named in the chargesheet. During questioning, the agency said, the two confirmed the identities and nationality of the attackers and their links to Lashkar-e-Taiba.