NIA chargesheets Lashkar founder Hafiz Saeed in Pahalgam attack
Accuses him of waging war against India in supplementary chargesheet
In a significant development, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday filed charges against Pakistan-based terrorist and chief and founder of the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) Hafiz Saeed in the Pahalgam terror attack case.
In its supplementary chargesheet filed before the NIA Special Court in Jammu, the anti-terror agency has charged Hafiz Saeed in his individual capacity as well as in his capacity as the chief of the banned LeT and its active proxy organisation, The Resistance Front (TRF).
The accused has been charged under various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. The NIA has also invoked provisions relating to waging war against India and hatching a cross-border conspiracy in the chargesheet.
The supplementary chargesheet, filed in continuation of the original 1,597-page chargesheet, provides details of Pakistan’s conspiracy, Hafiz Saeed’s role, and the supporting evidence collected by the NIA through scientific investigation and on-ground examination.
Because of his global operations, Saeed has also been designated a global terrorist by the United Nations Security Council, apart from India and the US.
To fund his terror operations and evade international ban, Saeed set up prominent charity fronts, such as Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) and the Falah-e-Insaniyat Foundation (FIF), which were used to radicalise people and channel millions of dollars into financing of terror.
In its earlier chargesheet filed on December 15, 2025, the NIA had chargesheeted Pakistani handler Sajid Jatt, along with three terrorists killed by security forces during Operation Mahadev in July 2025, as well as two arrested accused. It had also chargesheeted the proscribed LeT/TRF terrorist organisation as a legal entity for its role in planning, facilitating and executing the Pahalgam terror attack.
The deadly attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, on April 22, 2025, involved religion-based targeted killings by Pakistan-sponsored terrorists. Twenty-five tourists and one local civilian were killed in the attack. An FIR was initially registered at the Pahalgam Police Station in Anantnag district. Following the initial investigation by the Jammu and Kashmir Police, the case was transferred to the NIA by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
The NIA continues to investigate the case to unravel the larger conspiracy hatched from Pakistan, which it says has been actively sponsoring terrorism on Indian soil.
