Centre names 23 Pakistan-based Jaish, Lashkar operatives as terrorists under UAPA

New Delhi: The Union home ministry on Saturday designated 23 Pakistan-based individuals linked to Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and other organisations as "terrorists" under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), according to a government order. The accused are wanted by several agencies, including the National Investigation Agency (NIA), for their alleged roles in terrorism-related cases in India.

The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (37 of 1967), empowers the central government to designate an individual as a terrorist if it believes that the individual is involved in terrorism. The designation of the names of terrorists in the list will enable the NIA to block finances, impose restrictions on arms transactions and seize their assets.

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In 2019, the anti-terror law was amended to allow the designation of individual terrorists. Before the amendment, only organisations could be notified as terrorist entities.

With the latest additions, the total number of individuals designated as terrorists under the law has risen to 80, including underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, JeM chief Maulana Masood Azhar and LeT founder Hafiz Saeed.

According to the official order, the Centre has designated JeM operatives Masood Ilyas Kashmiri, Mohammad Mussadiq alias Doctor, Mufti Muhammad Asghar Khan alias Abu Saad, Hafiz Abdul Shakoor alias Qari Zarrar, Abdullah Jehadi, Ghulam Fareed, Maulana Imdad Ullah Makki and Waseem Noor Jat.

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The list also includes LeT operatives Firdous Ahmad Bhat, Haroon Rashid Ganai, Bilal Ahmad Mir, Abid Qayoom Lone, Nazir Ahmed Gujjar, Abdul Rauf alias Hafiz Abdul Rauf, Ashfaq Ahmad, Hafiz Khalid Waleed, Maulana Saifullah Khalid, Mohammad Yaqoob, Maulana Yousaf Taibi, Owais Farooz, Qari Yaqub Sheikh, Rana Iftikhar and Mohammed Shaheed Faisal, who is also linked to Al Qaeda and ISIS.