New Delhi: The Indian Union Home Ministry has officially designated 23 Pakistan-based individuals linked to prominent militant outfits, including Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, as terrorists under the country’s stringent anti-terror legislation. This decision, issued through a formal government notification on Saturday, targets operatives involved in cross-border infiltration, recruitment, weapons smuggling, and orchestrating attacks on Indian territory. The latest expansion of the list elevates the total number of individuals designated under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act to 80.
Prominent among the newly blacklisted individuals are three high-ranking associates of Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed, who India holds responsible for numerous major terror strikes, including the 2008 Mumbai attacks. The designated aides include Abdul Rauf and Hafiz Khalid Waleed, both senior leaders within Lashkar-e-Taiba and its front organization, Jamaat-ud-Dawa. The third close associate, Rana Iftikhar, has been identified by Indian authorities as a key coordinator responsible for managing militant logistics and radicalizing youth to participate in hostile operations against India.
The government order also highlights senior leadership from Jaish-e-Mohammed operating out of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Among them is Masood Ilyas Kashmiri, a senior functionary implicated in the April 2022 assault on Indian security forces in Sunjwan, Jammu. According to the Home Ministry, Kashmiri plays a vital role in training recruits and facilitating their clandestine entry into India. Another prominent Jaish-e-Mohammed operative added to the list is Mohammad Mussadiq, alias Doctor, who is accused of managing infiltration networks and utilizing drone technology to smuggle weapons across the border. Mussadiq also reportedly commands a team of cyber operatives focused on digital radicalization.
Additionally, Mufti Muhammad Asghar Khan, also known as Abu Saad, was designated for his leadership role within Jaish-e-Mohammed. Authorities have identified Khan as a primary mastermind behind the deadly 2016 attack on the Indian Army camp in Nagrota, Jammu. This latest round of designations follows an essential legal amendment passed in August 2019, which empowered the central government to designate specific individuals as terrorists, a power previously limited only to organizations.
This legal status grants specialized agencies, such as the National Investigation Agency, the authority to freeze financial assets, enforce strict arms embargoes, and confiscate properties belonging to the named individuals. With these 23 additions, the updated roster now places these operatives alongside long-standing high-profile figures such as underworld kingpin Dawood Ibrahim and Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Maulana Masood Azhar.
