17 out of 23 terrorists of Home Ministry are Pakistanis, accused of continuously conspiring against India

Taking another major step under the Modi government’s ‘zero tolerance’ policy against terrorism, the Union Home Ministry has declared 23 more persons as ‘terrorists’. This action has been taken under the guidance of Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah. Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is committed to completely eliminate every terrorist module to ensure the security of India and its countrymen. He said that the government’s policy against terrorism is clear and no leniency will be shown towards any terrorist activity or its supporters.

According to the Home Ministry, the 23 declared terrorists include 17 Pakistani citizens and 6 Indian citizens. All of them were carrying out anti-India terrorist activities from Pakistan and Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK).

The ministry said that these persons have been involved in serious matters like anti-India activities, planning and carrying out terrorist attacks, promoting terrorism, arms smuggling, cross-border infiltration, helping banned terrorist organizations, raising funds for terrorism and recruitment of terrorists.

The Home Ministry believes that declaring these individuals as ‘terrorists’ will effectively curb their financial networks, movement, recruitment capacity and other terrorist activities. Also, this step will prove important in weakening the entire ecosystem of terrorism and further strengthening the national security.

Detailed details of 23 terrorists banned by the Home Ministry:

• Masood Ilyas Kashmiri alias Mufti Masood Ilyas alias Masood Ilyas alias Abu Mohammed alias M. Masood Ilyas’ nationality is Pakistan and he belongs to Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM). He is a confidant of Maulana Masood Azhar and the main coordinator of infiltration in Kashmir. He is active in recruiting youth into terrorist groups and raising terror funding through social media. In April 2022, he had carried out the attack on the Naka party near the PDP office in Sanjwan, Jammu.
• The nationality of Mohammad Musadiq alias Doctor alias Abdul Manan alias Sajjad alias Hamza alias Wahid Khan is Pakistan and belongs to Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM). He is the launching commander of Lasinyakot sector who carries out infiltration through tunnels on the border. He has been involved in sending consignments of arms and ammunition to India through drones. Apart from this, he is R.J.B. of Ayodhya. campus, RSS headquarters in Nagpur and IOCL in Panipat. Was involved in reconnaissance of strategic places like refinery.
• Mufti Mohammad Asghar Khan alias Abu Saad alias Saad Jimmy’s nationality is Pakistan and belongs to Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM). He is the emir and head of the military wing of JeM in PoK. He is one of the main conspirators of the terrorist attack on the Indian Army camp in Nagrota, Jammu. He runs a camp in Muzaffarabad to provide jihadi and military training to terrorists.
• Hafiz Abdul Shakoor alias Qari Jarrar’s nationality is Pakistan and belongs to Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) / Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM). He had infiltrated three Pakistani terrorists from Samba-Kathua sector to attack Nagrota Army camp. He took part in the Afghan war during 1995/96 and coordinates terrorist activities with the help of ISI. He is a member of the Governing Council (Shura) of JeM.
• Abdullah Jihadi alias Shahnawaz alias Al Hijama’s nationality is Pakistan and belongs to Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM). He is a co-conspirator of Mufti Asghar Khan and facilitates infiltration of terrorists into the North Kashmir region. He has made efforts to spread hatred and discontent against the Indian government. He managed several launching camps located in Kupwara and Baramulla districts.
• Firdous Ahmed Bhat’s nationality is India (present address – Pakistan) and belongs to Lashkar-e-Taiba. He is the launching commander of Lashkar-e-Taiba who had gone to Pakistan from Wagah border in the year 2018 with the help of valid documents. It manages safe passage for foreign terrorists across the Line of Control (LoC). Along with this, he works to provide arms to Over Ground Workers (OGWs) and incite the youth of South Kashmir to recruit them into terrorism.
• Ghulam Farid alias Gulshan Kumar alias Farid’s nationality is Pakistan and belongs to Jaish-e-Mohammed. He served in the Pakistan Army from 2001 to 2005. After this, he entered India illegally through Bangladesh in September 2008. He was arrested from Jammu in December 2008 and later deported back to Pakistan in July 2019.
• The nationality of Haroon Rashid Ganai alias Shunu is India (present address – Pakistan) and belongs to Lashkar-e-Taiba. He went to Pakistan with valid documents in March 2018 and joined Lashkar-e-Taiba there. He inspires the youth of Kashmir Valley to join terrorist ranks and supplies arms and ammunition to over ground workers to carry out terrorist activities.
• Bilal Ahmed Mir alias Ahmed Bhai’s nationality is India (present address – Muzaffarabad, PoK) and belongs to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and The Resistance Front (TRF). Sitting from across the border (Pakistan/PoK), he conspires to instigate and instigate the local Kashmiri youth for Jihad. Moreover, he is directly involved in managing the illicit supply chain of arms, ammunition and logistics in the Kashmir Valley.
• Abid Qayyum Lone’s nationality is India (present address – PoK) and belongs to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). He went to Pakistan through Attari check post in February 2020 and did not return. He works to plan attacks on security forces in Jammu and Kashmir and raise funds for Lashkar. He smuggles narcotics from Pakistan to India on a large scale through an organized syndicate across the Line of Control (LoC), the money obtained from which is used to finance terrorist activities.
• The nationality of Nazir Ahmed Gujjar alias Abu Manazil is India (present address – Islamabad, Pakistan) and belongs to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). He crossed the Line of Control and went to PoK in 2006. He recruited local youth to revive terrorist activities in Doda and Kishtwar areas. He is using drones to sing Samba and R.S. Pura has been the main operator for sending consignments of arms and ammunition from the sector to Indian territory.
• Abdul Rauf alias Hafiz Abdul Rauf alias Hafiz Abdul Rauf alias Hafiz Abdur Rauf’s nationality is Pakistan and belongs to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) / Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) / Falah-e-Insaniyat Foundation (FIF). He has been a senior leader of Lashkar since 1999 and works under the direct command of terrorist Hafiz Saeed. He works to raise funds and public support for LeT internationally under the guise of charitable organizations like ‘Falah-e-Insaniyat Foundation’ (FIF) and Al-Madinah Welfare Trust. The United States has declared him a ‘Specially Designated Global Terrorist’ (SDGT).
• Ashfaq Ahmed alias Ishfaq Ahmed’s nationality is Pakistan and belongs to Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM). He joined Jaish in the year 2000 and is in-charge of ‘Shuaba Hadith’ and Al-Rahmat Trust (charity wing of Jaish) in Bahawalpur. He had received jihadi training in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. He was found to be one of the subscribers of Pakistani mobile numbers used during the Pathankot Air Force Station attack of January 2016.
• Hafiz Khalid Waleed alias Hafiz Khalid Naik alias Khalid Walid’s nationality is Pakistan and belongs to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) / Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD). He is the son-in-law of Lashkar chief Hafiz Mohammad Saeed and has been a member of Lashkar’s Central Advisory Committee since 2003. He was the main mastermind of the Pampore attack in June 2016, in which eight Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) soldiers were martyred. He was designated as a global terrorist by the US Treasury Department in August 2012.
• Maulana Imdad Ullah Makki alias Maulana Imdad alias Imdad Bhai alias Maulana Imdadullah’s nationality is Pakistan and belongs to Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM). He is the Amir of Jaish’s prisoners’ wing (Shoba-e-Asiran) and heads the organisation’s legal affairs. He is a very close associate of Maulana Masood Azhar and his deputy Mufti Abdul Rauf Asghar. He was involved in real-time coordination with the terrorists who attacked the Pathankot airbase in January 2016.
• Maulana Saifullah Khalid alias Waliyul alias Mohammad Salim alias Wajid’s nationality is Pakistan and belongs to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) / Pakistan Markazi Muslim League (PMML). He is the General Secretary of Pakistan Markazi Muslim League and has previously been the President of Milli Muslim League (MML). He has served as the head of several wings of Lashkar and Jamaat-ud-Dawa (such as Propaganda Department, Control and Reform Wing). In April 2018, America included him in the Global Terrorist (SDGT) list.
• The nationality of Mohammad Yakub alias Abu Sumama alias Samama Ilyas alias Waris Ali is Pakistan and belongs to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). He is currently working as the operations commander of Lashkar from Islamabad (Chatta Bakhtawar). He coordinates financial and logistics support with other Lashkar cadres operating in the Kashmir Valley to carry out terrorist activities in India. A case has been registered against him under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) at CI Kashmir Police Station, Srinagar.
• Maulana Yusuf Taibi alias Mohammad Yusuf’s nationality is Pakistan and belongs to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) / Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD). He is a central leader of LeT/JuD who is currently associated with the Control and Reform (Dawat-o-Islah) wing of the organisation. He has previously been in-charge of Karachi-based LeT/JuD affiliated organization ‘Jamia Al-Deerasat Al-Islamiyya Trust’ (JADIAT). Presently he is associated with ‘Al-Qadsiya Islamic Centre’ of Lahore and works to deliver religious sermons (Khutba) on Fridays in Sargodha Markaz of Punjab.
• Owais Faruz alias Owais Ahmed Mir alias Owais Faruz Mir’s nationality is India and belongs to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). He went to Pakistan via Wagah Border in April 2018 on a valid Indian passport and joined the terrorist ranks of LeT. In January 2023, his brother Farzan Firoz was arrested by Srinagar Police with 450 grams of heroin (worth approximately Rs 9.95 lakh) and LeT letter pad. NIA Court, Pulwama has issued a proclamation order against him under Section 82 CrPC.
• Qari Yaqoob Sheikh alias Qari Mohammad Yaqoob Sheikh alias Yaqoob Sheikh alias Qari Sheikh Muhammad Yaqoob alias Mohammad Yaqoob’s nationality is Pakistan and belongs to Pakistan Markazi Muslim League (PMML) / Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD). He is a central leader of JuD and a member of its central ‘Dawati Team’. He contested the 2018 Pakistani general election as a Milli Muslim League (MML) candidate. He has been prominently involved in fund raising missions for Lashkar and JuD in Saudi Arabia. In August 2012, the US designated him as a global terrorist.
• Rana Iftikhar alias Rana Waleed Atif alias Rana Iftikhar Haider alias Rana Iftikhar Ahmed alias Haider Khan’s nationality is Pakistan and belongs to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) / Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD). He is very close to LeT chief Hafiz Saeed and the chief manager of finances of its Kashmir operations. He is in-charge of ‘Shoba-e-Aseeran’, a wing working for the welfare of the families of slain terrorists and those lodged in Indian jails. In 1993, he was arrested after being injured during an encounter in the Mendhar sector of Jammu and Kashmir and remained in an Indian jail till 2004.
• Wasim Noor Jat alias Qari Wasim’s nationality is Pakistan and belongs to Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM). He is a launching commander of Jaish who handles the Kotli arrangements. He has been involved in the activities of dropping arms and ammunition in Indian territory through drones during the year 2021-22. He was first arrested by security forces in October 2008 and was lodged in Kot Bhalwal Central Jail, Jammu from 2012 to 2015, from where he was deported to Pakistan after his release.
• Mohammad Shaheed Faisal alias Ustad alias Muhandis alias Zakir’s nationality is Pakistan (Indian by origin, currently active in Rawalpindi) and belongs to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) / Al-Qaeda / ISIS. He is the main mastermind and handler of the Bengaluru LeT conspiracy case of 2012 and the Nanded LeT case of 2013, in which targeted killings of right-wing politicians and journalists were planned. He fled to Pakistan in 2013 with the help of terrorist Farhatullah Ghori. According to the investigation, he has been involved as an online handler in the Rameshwaram cafe blast case (2024), Mangaluru cooker blast and Al-Hind ISIS module case. He works to recruit youth through anti-national and Jihadi videos on social media and YouTube/Telegram channels (like ‘Sawat Al Haq’).