LeT handler plotted Pahalgam massacre, TRF carried out strike: NIA chargesheet

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday submitted a 1,597-page chargesheet that lays out an extensive plot behind the Pahalgam terror attack, asserting that the strike was directed from Pakistan through Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and its shadow organisation, The Resistance Front (TRF). The April 22 assault in the Baisaran meadows killed 26 people, including 25 tourists and a local pony handler, and rattled the region for months.

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The agency's filing before the NIA Special Court in Jammu traces what it calls an "unabated" campaign of cross-border terrorism and describes the killings as "religion-based targeted" violence.

According to the NIA, the conspiracy was led from Pakistan, with LeT chief Hafiz Saeed and TRF commander Habibullah Malik, widely known as Sajid Jatt, named for planning and directing the operation. "Pakistani handler terrorist Sajid Jatt is also named as an accused in the chargesheet," the agency stated. The document says Jatt served as the main controller of the attackers and coordinated the strike through encrypted channels from what investigators believe is his base near Let's headquarters in Islamabad.