Home Ministry designates 23 individuals, including 11 from J&K, as terrorists under UAPA

STC NEWS DESK
SRINAGAR, JULY 04 (STC): The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in a series of notifications has issued a list of 23 individuals, including 11 from Jammu and Kashmir, as terrorists under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). They have been found involved in terror attacks, recruitment, infiltration, terror financing, arms smuggling and providing logistical support for terrorism in India.
The designated terrorists are linked to banned outfits Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), The Resistance Front (TRF) and Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD)
According to the notifications, 11 of the 23 designated individuals are originally from Jammu and Kashmir, while the remaining are Pakistani nationals. The Ministry said seven of the J&K natives are currently based in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), while four are residing in Pakistan.
The seven J&K natives based in PoK have been identified as Masood Ilyas Kashmiri (Rawalkot), Mufti Muhammad Asghar Khan (Abbaspur), Hafiz Abdul Shakoor (Kotli), Abdullah Jehadi (Kundalshahi, Neelum), Ghulam Fareed (Bading, Bimber), Bilal Ahmad Mir of Sopore (Muzaffarabad) and Abid Qayoom Lone of Baramulla (PoK).
The four J&K natives currently residing in Pakistan are Haroon Rashid Ganai of Anantnag, Nazir Ahmed Gujjar of Doda, Owais Farooz Mir of Pulwama and Mohammed Shaheed Faisal, originally from Bengaluru with an Indian address, who is now based in Rawalpindi.
The MHA said 10 of the newly designated individuals are affiliated with JeM, while 13 are linked to LeT, with some also associated with TRF or JuD.
The designated operatives were involved in recruiting and training terrorists, facilitating infiltration into Jammu and Kashmir, planning terror attacks, supplying arms and ammunition through drones and cross-border networks, raising funds, managing logistics and operating terror camps, the Ministry said.
The government also linked several JeM operatives to the 2016 Nagrota Army camp attack and the 2022 Sunjwan attack on security forces.
Among the senior Pakistan-based operatives designated under the UAPA are Abdul Rauf, Hafiz Khalid Waleed, Maulana Saifullah Khalid, Mohammad Yaqoob, Molana Yousaf Taibi, Qari Yaqub Sheikh, Rana Iftikhar, Waseem Noor Jat, Ashfaq Ahmad, Maulana Imdad Ullah Makki and Mohammad Mussadiq.
In a separate notification, the MHA alleged that Mohammed Shaheed Faisal has links with LeT, JeM, Al-Qaeda and ISIS modules. It accused him of recruiting youth through social media, arranging weapons training in Pakistan, raising funds, training operatives in encrypted communications and fake identities, and facilitating the delivery of arms and ammunition.
The Centre said it exercised its powers under Section 35 of the UAPA after concluding that the 23 individuals were involved in terrorism.
(Straight Talk Communications I inputs from Agencies)