MHA declares 18 more individuals as 'terrorists' under amended UAPA

NEW DELHI:

Eighteen individuals have been declared as 'terrorists' under the amended Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).

The groups designated under the 18-key operatives include leaders of groups such Lashkar e Taiba (LeT), Hizb Ul Mujahideen (HuM), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Indian Mujahideen and members of Dawood Ibrahim gang.

The list includes key 26/11 conspirators -- Sajid Mir and Yusuf Muzammil alias Muzammil Butt; JeM leaders -- Ibrahim Athar and Yusuf Azhar; JeM chief Masood Azhar’s brother Rauf Asghar, who is the key conspirator in Parliament Attack, Pathankot Airbase attack and the Pulwama CRPF convoy attack cases; Indian Mujahideen founders -- Riyaz and Iqbal Bhatkal; HuM chief Syed Salauddin and Dawood’s close aides -- Chhota Shakeel and Anees Shaikh apart from 1993 blasts accused Tiger Memon among others.

All these are said to be in Pakistan currently.

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According to a statement issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs on Tuesday, the Modi Government today has declared eighteen more individuals as designated terrorists, under the provisions of the UAPA Act 1967 (as amended in 2019) and included their names in the Fourth Schedule of the said Act.

This was done to reinforce the commitment of strengthening national security and its policy of zero tolerance to terrorism, read the statement.

Among other individuals designated as terrorists, through the latest order, is Abdur Rehman Makki, who is also the brother-in-law of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) chief Hafiz Saeed. Makki is the Head of LeT political affairs and served as Head of LeT’s foreign relations department.

Another inclusion, Shahid Mehmood alias Shahid Mehmood Rehmatullah is Pakistan-based Deputy Chief of proscribed organization Falah-i-lnsaniyat Foundation (FIF), a frontal organisation of LeT.

Notably, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) is already probing a case of funding of terror activities in India by FIF in the name of religious donations.

Farhatullah Ghori alias Abu Sufiyan, who is accused of involvement in the 2002 Akshardham Temple Attack and the suicide attack on the Task Force office at Hyderabad in 2005, is also among those designated as terrorist.

Apart from this, Shahid Latif alias Chota Shahid Bhai who is Pakistan-based Commander of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM’s) Sialkot sector, and is involved in the launching of JeM terrorists into India has been included in the list. He is said to be also involved in planning, facilitation and execution of terror attacks in India.

Among Hizb Ul Mujahideen (HuM) leaders in the list, apart from Salauddin, are Ghulam Nabi Khan and Zafar Hussain Bhat.

In the Dawood gang, Javed Chikna has also been designated as a terrorist.

“These individuals are involved in various acts of terrorism from across the border and have been relentless in their nefarious efforts of destabilizing the country,” the MHA statement said.

The Centre had amended the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 in August 2019, to include the provision of designating an individual as a terrorist. Prior to this amendment, only organisations could be designated as terrorist organizations.