Jammu NIA court issues second warrant against Hafiz Saeed in two months

A special NIA court in Jammu has issued a non-bailable warrant against Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed, accepting the National Investigation Agency's position that the designated terrorist is in Pakistan and is deliberately avoiding arrest.

The warrant, issued under Section 75 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, is the second non-bailable warrant the court has issued against Saeed within two months. The earlier one, on July 8, related to the Pahalgam terror attack in April, in which 25 tourists and a local resident were killed.

The latest application arose from a case that began with the arrest of Mohammad Naqeeb Bhat during a check at Pandach on the outskirts of Srinagar earlier this year. A China-made grenade and 15 live rounds were recovered from Bhat, a resident of Batpora, and a case was registered at Zakoora Police Station under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, the Arms Act and the Explosive Substances Act.

Investigators said the probe that followed unravelled a wider terror network, leading to the arrest of several more operatives linked to the LeT and its offshoot, The Resistance Front, as well as two Pakistani nationals.

The agency told the court that Saeed's role surfaced during the investigation, with the arrested Pakistani terrorists allegedly found to be associated with him. The NIA described him as the Amir, chief and founder of the proscribed outfit, and said he was operating from Pakistan while providing weapons, money and directions to terrorists active in the Kashmir Valley.

Saeed, a resident of Sargodha in Pakistan's Punjab province, was named as an absconding accused in the case.

After hearing the agency, Special Judge Prem Sagar, presiding over the NIA Act court, noted on September 8 that Saeed's involvement had come to light during the investigation and that he was allegedly involved in terrorism. The court observed that he was at large and that the investigating agency had been unable to secure his attendance in the ordinary manner, and issued a general non-bailable warrant against him.