The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has designated 23 additional individuals as terrorists under Section 35 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (UAPA), adding them to the Fourth Schedule. This action was taken under the guidance of Union Home Minister Shri Amit Shah, aligning with the Modi government's 'Zero Tolerance Policy' against terrorism. The designation includes 17 Pakistani nationals and 6 Indian nationals, all currently operating terrorist activities from Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoK).
The designated individuals are involved in various anti-India activities, including terrorist attacks, promoting terrorism, arms smuggling, cross-border infiltration, aiding terrorist organizations, fundraising, and recruiting terrorists. The MHA expects this decision to be crucial in dismantling the terror ecosystem by curbing these terrorists' fundraising mechanisms, movement, recruitment capabilities, and terror-related activities. It will also enhance the capacity of security and law enforcement agencies to initiate coordinated legal, investigative, and preventive actions at both national and international levels.
Since the amendment to the UAPA in 2019, a total of 57 individuals have been designated as terrorists under Section 35 of the Act. The newly designated terrorists are affiliated with banned organizations such as Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM), Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), Falah-e-Insaniyat Foundation (FIF), Al-Qaeda, and ISIS. Their activities include coordinating infiltrations, orchestrating attacks on security forces and strategic locations, recruiting youth via social media, raising funds through charitable fronts and narcotics smuggling, and providing military training.
Specific incidents linked to these individuals include the April 2022 attack on a police checkpoint in Sunjwan, Jammu; the Nagrota Army camp attack; the January 2016 Pathankot Air Force Station attack; the June 2016 Pampore attack that killed eight CRPF personnel; the 2012 Bengaluru LeT conspiracy; the 2013 Nanded LeT case; and recent involvement in the 2024 Rameshwaram Cafe blast case. Several of these individuals have also been designated as Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs) by the United States.