New Delhi: A Jammu court has issued a non-bailable warrant against Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) founder Hafiz Saeed in connection with the April 2026 Pahalgam attack, after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) named him as the alleged mastermind in a supplementary chargesheet filed earlier this month.
According to sources quoted in the NDTV report, Saeed, who is believed to be living in Pakistan under military protection, is likely to be tried in absentia under recently introduced legal provisions that allow courts to proceed against fugitives who deliberately evade trial.
The April attack in Pahalgam claimed the lives of 26 people, mostly civilians, making it the deadliest terror strike in Jammu and Kashmir since the 2019 Pulwama attack.
The supplementary chargesheet details Saeed’s alleged role in planning and monitoring the attack and includes additional forensic evidence collected from the scene. The NIA had filed its first chargesheet in December 2025, naming the three Pakistani terrorists accused of carrying out the attack. They were later killed during Operation Mahadev, a joint operation by the Army, CRPF and Jammu and Kashmir Police.
As per reports, the non-bailable warrant is a key step towards initiating trial in absentia after the NIA informed the court that Saeed could not be brought to India due to Pakistan’s alleged protection. Under the new legal framework, courts can proceed with a trial if an accused is declared a fugitive after failing to respond to summons and warrants.
The NIA has also named Pakistan-based Sajid Saifullah Jatt and two Pahalgam residents, Bashir Ahmed and Parvez Ahmed, accusing them of assisting the attackers in executing the strike.
