Hizbul chief, 17 others designated terrorists under UAPA

New Delhi: Union home ministry on Tuesday declared 18 more Pakistan-based individuals as designated terrorists under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for their involvement in acts of terrorism and subversive activities.

The home ministry's list includes chief of the banned Hizbul Mujahideen Syed Sallahudin, founders of Indian Mujahideen Bhatkal brothers, Sajid Mir, one of the key conspirators in the Mumbai 26/11 attacks and a top commander of Lashar-e-Tayeeba, and a close lieutenant of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, Chhota Shakeel, taking the total number of such proscribed persons to 31.

“These individuals are involved in various acts of terrorism from across the border and have been relentless in their nefarious efforts of destabilising the country,” the ministry’s statement said.

Details given by the Ministry further states that apart from Sajid Mir, Yusuf Muzammil is the commander of LeT operations in Jammu & Kashmir,  an accused in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks and has been declared a terrorist.

Shahid Mehmood, the Pakistan-based deputy chief of proscribed organization Falah-i-lnsaniyat Foundation (FIF) -- a frontal organisation of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) — has also been declared a terrorist.

Other in the list are Farhatullah Ghori, who was involved in the attack on Akshardham Temple (2002) and the suicide attack on the Task Force office in Hyderabad (2005). There’s also Abdul Rauf Asghar who was involved in setting up training camps in Pakistan for recruitment and militant training and was the key conspirator in the terrorist attack (December 13, 2001) on the Parliament House.

Ibrahim Athar has been declared a terrorist for his involvement in the hijacking of the Indian Airlines flight lC-814 on December 24, 1999, (Kandahar hijacking case). He was also a key conspirator in the Indian Parliament terrorist attack (December 13, 2001).

Yusuf Azhar, who has also been named, was also involved in the same hijacking case.

Shahid Latif is the JeM’s commander of the Sialkot sector and was involved in launching JeM terrorists into India. He is also involved in planning, facilitating and executing terror attacks in India.

Others in the list include Syed Mohammad Yusuf Shah, the main commander of the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM) and the chairman of the United Jihad Council (UJC); Ghulam Nabi Khanis, the deputy supreme of the Hizb; Zaffar Hussain Bhat, also known as Khursheed, Mohd Zafar Khan, Moulvi and Khursheed Ibrahim, is the deputy chief of the Hizb and handles its financial affairs; Riyaz Ismail Shahbandri was involved in various terrorist acts in India, including German Bakery (2010), Chinnaswami Stadium, Bangalore (2010), Jama Masjid (2010), Sheetlaghat (2010) and Mumbai (2011).

Mohd Iqbal, also known as Shabandri Mohammed Iqbal and Iqbal Bhatkal, is the Pakistan based co-founder of the terrorist organisation Indian Mujahideen and was involved in Jaipur serial blasts (2008), Delhi serial blasts (2008), serial blasts of Ahmedabad and Surat (2008), German Bakery blast, Pune (2010) and Chinnaswami Stadium, Bengaluru blasts (2010).

Four close aides of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim -- who was designated a global terrorist by the UN -- Shaikh Shakeel alias Chhota Shakeel, Mohammad Anis Shaikh, Ibrahim Memon alias Tiger Memon and Javed Chikna have been named in the list.

Mohammad Anis Shaikh was involved in the Mumbai  bomb blast 1993. Ibrahim Memon, also known as Tiger Memon, hatched the criminal conspiracy of the Mumbai bomb blast.

Javed Chikna was also involved in the same serial blasts case.