The noose is tightening around the architects of the Pahalgam terror attack. In a decisive move, a special National Investigation Agency (NIA) Court in Jammu has issued a non-bailable warrant against Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) commander Saifullah Kasuri, the alleged mastermind behind the April 2025 Pahalgam attack that killed 26 tourists, including one Nepali national.
Saifullah, a native of Changa Manga in Pakistan’s Kasur district, is no stranger to the intelligence grid. Operating under a web of aliases – Sajid Jatt, Ali Bhai, Habibullah Malik, Langda, Noomi, Numan, Usman Habib and Shani – he has been on the radar of security agencies for over two decades as a key handler of LeT operations from across the border. The warrant was issued in connection with the probe into a deeply entrenched LeT module headed by Pakistani terrorist Abdullah alias Abu Hureira. The NIA has already arrested Abdullah, along with another Pakistani national Usman alias Khubaib and three local overground workers linked to the network. Taking cognisance of the evidence, the Special Court issued the non-bailable warrant and forwarded it to the competent authorities for execution through the NIA. The latest action underscores the NIA’s intensified crackdown on Pakistan-based terror syndicates and their shadow networks fuelling terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.
The agency further revealed that Saifullah had earlier operated as LeT’s commander in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district between 2005 and 2007, before exfiltrating to Pakistan to orchestrate terror operations from safe havens.
Saifullah was the vital link, providing arms, funds and real-time operational directions to terrorists active in the Valley, according to the NIA’s submission before the court.
