Pahalgam case: Court issues non-bailable warrant against Hafiz Saeed

A Jammu court has issued a non-bailable warrant against Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) founder Hafiz Muhammad Saeed in connection with the 2025 Pahalgam terror attack case, after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) sought his arrest and custodial interrogation.

The special court passed the order on an application filed by NIA inspector Arun Sharma, stating that the arrest and questioning of Saeed were necessary for a “fair, complete and effective investigation” into the case.

The warrant was issued after the NIA named Saeed as an alleged mastermind in a supplementary chargesheet filed earlier this month. The agency has accused him of involvement in the conspiracy behind the attack, in which 26 people were killed in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam on 22 April 2025.

In its order, the court noted that Saeed was an absconding accused in the case registered as RC No. 02/2025/NIA/JMU and had allegedly been evading arrest. The court directed that the warrant be forwarded to the DIG, NIA Jammu, for execution according to law.

The court observed that Saeed, who is a designated terrorist under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), is the founder of the proscribed terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba and is operating from Pakistan.

“The arrest and custodial interrogation of the said accused are necessary for a fair, complete and effective investigation,” the court said while issuing the warrant.

The NIA, in its plea, sought an open-dated non-bailable warrant against Saeed, citing the need for further investigation and legal action in the case.

The court order listed multiple aliases of Saeed and identified him as the son of Kamal-ud-Din, a resident of Sargodha in Pakistan’s Punjab province. It said the accused had allegedly been deliberately avoiding arrest.

The Pahalgam terror attack on 22 April 2025, left 26 people dead and triggered a major security response. The NIA filed its first chargesheet in the case in December 2025, and the subsequent supplementary chargesheet named Saeed among those accused in the wider conspiracy.

With IANS inputs