The Central government has once again cracked down hard on cross-border terrorism, taking stringent action against forces operating out of Pakistan against India. As part of this, the Centre has newly designated 23 key operatives belonging to affiliated wings of banned terror outfits Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) as terrorists. The Union Home Ministry issued an official gazette notification to this effect on Saturday, July 4, declaring them terrorists under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
The Home Ministry stated that these 23 operatives have been continuously involved in destructive activities, including plotting major attacks in Jammu and Kashmir, supplying sophisticated weapons via drones across the international border, and facilitating infiltration. It further said they have played key roles in misleading Indian youth through social media and other means for terror recruitment, and in arranging their training across the border. With this latest move, the total number of Pakistan-linked individuals designated as terrorists by the Centre has risen to 80.
The fresh list includes some of the most dangerous names, notably Abdul Rauf, Hafiz Khalid Walid, and Rana Iftikhar — top operatives trusted by Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, mastermind of the Mumbai attacks and founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba. The Centre has also invoked the law against key strategists behind past attacks on the Indian Army, including the 2016 Nagrota army camp attack and the 2018 Sunjwan military station attack. Also named are Masood Ilyas Kashmiri, Mohammad Mussadiq, Mufti Mohammad Asghar Khan, Hafiz Abdul Shakoor, and Abdullah Jehadi, all linked to the network of JeM chief Masood Azhar. Beyond Kashmir-focused operatives, the Centre has also notified Mohammad Shahid Faisal, a key coordinator with strong ties to international terror outfits al-Qaeda and ISIS, running a global terror network, as a designated terrorist.
Once an individual is officially declared a terrorist under UAPA, strict financial and legal restrictions come into force against them both domestically and internationally. All bank accounts and financial transactions linked to such individuals can be frozen immediately, while the National Investigation Agency (NIA) gains full legal authority to confiscate any assets they hold in India or under Indian jurisdiction. Sanctions can also be imposed with the help of international agencies to cut off access to arms and funding worldwide. Notably, before 2019, UAPA allowed only organisations to be banned as terrorist groups, a loophole that let individuals simply float new outfits under different names to continue their activities after a ban. The 2019 amendments closed this gap by empowering the Centre to directly designate individuals — irrespective of organisational affiliation — as “declared terrorists,” and the latest action reaffirms India’s resolve to root out cross-border terrorism entirely.
The full list of the 23 newly designated terrorists includes: Masood Ilyas Kashmiri, Mohammad Mussadiq, Mufti Muhammad Asghar Khan, Hafiz Abdul Shakoor, Abdullah Jehadi, Firdous Ahmed Bhat, Ghulam Farid, Bilal Ahmed Mir, Abid Qayoom Lone, Nazir Ahmed Gujjar, Abdul Rauf, Ashfaq Ahmed, Hafiz Khalid Walid, Maulana Saifullah Khalid, Mohammad Yaqoob, Molana Yousuf Taiby, Owais Farooq, Qari Yaqub Sheikh, Rana Iftikhar, Waseem alias Noor Jat, Mohammad Shahid Faisal, Maulana Imdad Ullah Makki, and Haroon Rashid Ganai.