A special NIA court in Jammu has issued a non-bailable warrant against Lashkar-e-Taiba founder and most-wanted terrorist Hafiz Sayeed in connection with the Pahalgam terror attack case. The National Investigation Agency, which has been accelerating its probe into the attack, has now named Sayeed as a key accused in the matter. The warrant was issued by the court on July 8, and details of this significant development have only now come to light.
The NIA, which has been conducting an intensive investigation into the Pahalgam attack, filed a supplementary chargesheet before the special court on July 6. The chargesheet invokes stringent provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) along with several serious sections of the new criminal law, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), against Sayeed. After thoroughly examining the evidence and the details of the chargesheet on July 8, the special court concluded that there was prima facie evidence to support the charges against the accused and formally admitted the case for trial.
The Pahalgam attack, which claimed the lives of 26 innocent people, was directly carried out by a terror outfit known as The Resistance Force (TRF). However, the NIA has presented evidence to the court establishing that TRF functions as a complete frontal organisation of Lashkar-e-Taiba. The agency told the court that in order to fully unravel the international conspiracy behind the attack, it is essential to take the key mastermind, Hafiz Sayeed, into custody for interrogation.
NIA investigations have firmly established that Hafiz Sayeed is currently residing in the Sargodha area of Pakistan’s Punjab province. Sayeed has already been designated an “international terrorist” by India, the United States, and the United Nations. Notably, he was also the principal mastermind behind the historic 2008 Mumbai 26/11 terror attacks. The NIA has stated that Sayeed has been deliberately evading Indian laws and arrest, and continues to remain a fugitive in Pakistan.
Even if the Pakistani government does not extradite Hafiz Sayeed to India, or if he does not appear before Indian authorities, the trial will not come to a halt. Under Section 356 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) – 2023, a new criminal law that came into effect in the country from 2024, there is a provision allowing a trial to proceed and a verdict to be delivered even in the physical absence of the accused. This process is known as a “trial in absentia.”
With the issuance of this non-bailable warrant, India now has a strong legal foundation to further isolate Hafiz Sayeed on the international stage. Alongside increasing diplomatic pressure on Pakistan, the NIA is set to move swiftly to complete the trial under Section 356 of the BNSS in the accused’s absence and ensure that appropriate punishment is handed down to him.