Jammu court issues non-bailable warrant against LeT chief Hafiz Saeed over Pahalgam attack

AJammu margaret court has issued a non-bailable stock warrant (NBW) against lashkar-e-tayyiba ( allow) chief Hafiz Saeed for his role in endure year’s terror attack in Pahalgam’s Baisaran meadow. The warrant was issued at the request of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which plans to declare the terrorist a proclaimed offender, people familiar with the matter said on Monday.Since Saeed is unlikely to ever appear before an Indian court and Pakistan won’t hand him over, NIA will use this tag to conduct his “trial in absentia” -- a provision now included in the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita , the people added, asking not to be named.Watch| Full speech: PM Modi's Pahalgam terror attack message at Indonesia Parliament | India| Pak| SindoorThe federal agency filed a supplementary charge sheet on July 6 naming Saeed as the key conspirator for the Pahalgam attack that killed 26 people, and which triggered a four-day armed conflict between India and Pakistan.After filing the charge sheet, NIA approached a Jammu special court seeking an “open dated non-bailable warrant” against Saeed “to initiate further proceedings and to take legal action against him at any further investigation”, one of the people, an officer at a law enforcement agency said.While issuing the warrant, the court said in its order on July 8 , that “arrest and custodial interrogation of Hafiz Saeed are necessary for a fair, complete and effective investigation”. HT has reviewed a copy of the order.“Based on this NBW, we will seek to declare Saeed a proclaimed offender. It will be sent to Pakistan through formal channels followed by a request to repatriate him. Since we know Pakistan will not respond to India’s judicial requests, Saeed’s trial will be conducted in absentia as per section 356 of the BNSS,” said a second person, also an officer at a law enforcement agency.Even though Saeed is a UN-designated terrorist and multiple charge sheets have been filed against him in the past, he has never been tried as he has never appeared before Indian courts.Also Read: Names of 6 soldiers killed in action during Operation Sindoor made public for 1st timeThe government introduced “inquiry, trial or judgement in absentia of proclaimed offender” under section 356 of BNSS in the new criminal laws, primarily to facilitate the trial in absentia of fugitives like Saeed, Dawood Ibrahim, and economic offenders like Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi.After filing a charge sheet last week, NIA said in a statement that it has provided “details of Pakistan’s conspiracy, Hafiz Saeed’s role, and supporting evidence in the case through meticulous scientific investigation and on-ground examination”.The most-wanted terrorist, who is behind several attacks in India including the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, has been charged under sections pertaining to terrorism of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.Investigations, NIA said, are still continuing to unravel the complete conspiracy by Pakistan, which has been actively sponsoring terrorism on Indian soil from across the border.In its first charge sheet filed in December last year, NIA named three Pakistani terrorists who shot the tourists at Baisaran, Faisal Jatt alias Suleman, Habeeb Tahir alias Jibran Bhai and Hamza Afghani (who were later killed during Operation Mahadev in July 2025), The Resistance Front (TRF) leader Sajid Saiffullah Jatt aka Langda, two locals, Bashir Ahmad Jothatd and his nephew Parvaiz Ahmad (arrested in June last year) and LeT/TRF.NIA has concluded in its probe that the April 22, 2025 terror attack “involved religion-based targeted killings by the Pak-sponsored terrorists”. Of the 26 killed, 25 were Hindus.In its first charge sheet, reported by HT on May 22, NIA stated that Sajid Saiffullah Jatt shared the co-ordinates of the Baisaran meadow with the attackers and that one of the terrorists involved was also part of a terror strike on the Srinagar-Leh highway in October 2024.It also revealed that the three terrorists involved sat outside the meadow and had lunch before launching the attack, and indulged in celebratory firing after it.According to the first charge sheet, data from two phones recovered from the terrorists revealed “chats with Sajid Jatt giving directions to them ... And screenshots of Alpine Quest app showing co-ordinates of locations near Baisaran Park”. Both phones, NIA said, based on data from the Indian arm of the phone maker Xiaomi, were sold in Pakistan.NIA’s first charge sheet says that the investigation “conclusively established that the Pahalgam (Baisaran) terror attack was planned, directed, and controlled from Pakistan”.