Eight days after filing charges against him in a supplementary chargesheet, a special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court has issued a non-bailable warrant (NBW) against Pakistan-based terrorist and founder of the proscribed terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Hafiz Saeed, in connection with the heinous Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 unarmed civilians were killed by terrorists.
The warrant has been issued as part of the ongoing investigation into the 2025 Pahalgam terror attack.
In a statement, the NIA said the order was passed on July 8 by the Special Judge of the NIA Court, two days after the agency filed a supplementary chargesheet against the Pakistan-based terrorist in the case.
Saeed, 76, who has been designated a global terrorist by India and the United States, has been chargesheeted in his personal capacity as well as in his capacity as chief of the proscribed LeT and its proxy outfit, The Resistance Front (TRF), officials said. He has been booked under various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.
The NIA informed the court that Saeed, a resident of Sargodha in Pakistan's Punjab province, has been deliberately evading arrest.
The agency sought the issuance of an open-dated non-bailable warrant to facilitate further legal proceedings and secure his arrest.
"Arrest and custodial interrogation of the accused are necessary for a fair, complete and effective investigation. As such, a non-bailable warrant of arrest is issued against him and is forwarded to the Deputy Inspector General (DIG), NIA Jammu, for execution in accordance with law," the court order said, according to the agency.
Saeed is also considered the mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, in which 166 people were killed.
Saeed named as main conspirator in supplementary chargesheet
Hafiz Saeed was named as the main conspirator in the supplementary chargesheet filed by the NIA before the Special NIA Court in Jammu on July 6.
In its earlier chargesheet filed on December 15, 2025, the NIA had chargesheeted Pakistani terrorist handler Sajid Jatt, three terrorists who were killed by security forces during Operation Mahadev in July 2025, and two arrested accused persons. The agency had also chargesheeted the proscribed LeT/TRF terrorist organisation as a legal entity for its role in planning, facilitating and executing the Pahalgam terror attack.
The deadly attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, on April 22, 2025, involved religion-based targeted killings carried out by Pakistan-sponsored terrorists. Twenty-five tourists and one local civilian were killed in the attack.
An FIR (No. 25/2025) was initially registered at Police Station Pahalgam in Anantnag district. Following the preliminary investigation by the Jammu and Kashmir Police, the Ministry of Home Affairs transferred the case to the NIA.
The NIA said it is continuing its investigation into Case RC-02/2025/NIA/JMU to unravel the larger conspiracy allegedly orchestrated from Pakistan, which, it said, has been actively sponsoring terrorism in India through cross-border networks.
The supplementary chargesheet, filed after an extensive investigation, details what the agency described as a meticulously planned cross-border conspiracy orchestrated by handlers linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba and its proxy outfit, The Resistance Front (TRF). According to the NIA, both technical and human intelligence have established "clear and compelling evidence" linking the three attackers to their handlers in Pakistan.
