India designates 23 Pakistan-based terrorists under UAPA, JeM and LeT members named
Synopsis
In one of its most sweeping individual-designation moves, the Centre has named 23 Pakistan-based operatives — 17 Pakistani nationals and 6 Indian nationals — as terrorists under the UAPA, directly targeting the recruitment, financing, and infiltration networks of JeM and LeT. The list includes alleged masterminds of the 2016 Nagrota and 2022 Sunjwan attacks.
Key Takeaways
The Central government designated 23 Pakistan-based individuals as terrorists under the UAPA on 4 July .
17 of the designated individuals are Pakistani nationals ; 6 are Indian nationals — all currently operating from Pakistan or Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
The list targets operatives of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) involved in recruitment, financing, infiltration, and attacks.
Key figures include alleged masterminds of the 2016 Nagrota Army camp attack (in which 7 soldiers were killed) and the 2022 Sunjwan attack .
Designations were made under the Fourth Schedule of the UAPA , empowering the government to freeze assets and pursue further legal action.
The UAPA individual-designation provision has been used with increasing frequency since amendments came into force in 2019 .
The Central government on 4 July designated 23 Pakistan-based individuals as terrorists under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), in one of the most sweeping individual-designation actions taken against cross-border terrorism in recent years. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) issued formal notifications to include the names in the Fourth Schedule of the UAPA, which empowers the government to declare individuals as terrorists if they are found to have engaged in terrorist activity.
Of the 23 individuals named, 17 are Pakistani nationals and 6 are Indian nationals. According to the government, all of them currently operate from Pakistan or Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
Why the Government Acted
The designations are aimed at dismantling the leadership, recruitment, financing, and operational networks of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), along with their affiliated outfits. The MHA stated that the designated individuals have been involved in anti-India activities including carrying out terror attacks, inciting violence, trafficking arms, facilitating infiltration, raising funds, and recruiting operatives.
This comes amid a sustained push by the Centre to target not just proscribed organisations but the individuals who sustain their recruitment, radicalisation, logistics, and financing pipelines — particularly those directing operations into Jammu and Kashmir. Following amendments to the UAPA that came into force in 2019, the government has increasingly used the individual-designation provision as a counter-terror instrument.
Key Figures on the List
Masood Ilyas Kashmiri, identified as a senior JeM leader, has reportedly played a major role in recruiting and training terrorists and facilitating their infiltration into India. He has been linked, according to the MHA notification, to the 2022 Sunjwan attack in Jammu.
Mohammad Mussadiq, described as an important JeM handler based in Pakistan, is accused of supervising infiltration attempts and coordinating operations targeting India. Investigators allege he also used social media platforms to recruit individuals into terrorist organisations. He too has been linked to the Sunjwan attack.
Mufti Muhammad Asghar Khan is alleged to have served as a launching commander for JeM terrorists entering Jammu and Kashmir. Officials have identified him as one of the alleged masterminds behind the 2016 Nagrota Army camp attack, in which seven Indian soldiers were killed.
Abdullah Jehadi, another JeM operative, is accused of managing terrorist training camps across the border and facilitating militant movement into Jammu and Kashmir. He has also been linked to the Nagrota attack.
Among those linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba, Firdous Ahmad Bhat is accused of acting as a launching commander who helped foreign terrorists cross into India and arranged weapons and ammunition. Haroon Rashid Ganai, believed to be based in Pakistan, is alleged to have actively recruited youth into terrorist ranks and arranged arms and logistical support for attacks against India.
The Complete List of Designated Individuals
The full roster of newly designated terrorists comprises: Masood Ilyas Kashmiri, Mohammad Mussadiq, Mufti Muhammad Asghar Khan, Hafiz Abdul Shakoor, Abdullah Jehadi, Firdous Ahmad Bhat, Ghulam Fareed, Bilal Ahmad Mir, Abid Quyoom Lone, Nazir Ahmed Gujjar, Abdul Rauf, Ashfaq Ahmad, Hafiz Khalid Waleed, Maulana Saifullah Khalid, Mohammad Yaqoob, Molana Yousaf Taibi, Owais Farooz, Qari Yaqub Sheikh, Rana Iftikhar, Waseem Noor Jat, Mohammed Shaheed Faisal, Maulana Imdad Ullah Makki, and Haroon Rashid Ganai.
What Comes Next
Designation under the Fourth Schedule of the UAPA allows the government to freeze assets, restrict movement, and pursue further legal action against the named individuals. The move signals that the Centre intends to expand its counter-terror toolkit beyond organisation-level bans toward systematic targeting of individual operatives who sustain these networks. Analysts expect further designations as intelligence-sharing with partner agencies continues to develop leads on cross-border networks.
Point of View
The real test of these designations lies in international enforcement: without coordinated pressure on Pakistan to act on its own soil, UAPA listings risk remaining largely symbolic for operatives already beyond India's jurisdictional reach. Notably, six of the 23 are Indian nationals, a detail that underscores the domestic recruitment dimension of cross-border terrorism that often gets overshadowed by the foreign-handler narrative. The inclusion of alleged masterminds behind the Nagrota and Sunjwan attacks also signals that the Centre is revisiting older cases with fresh legal instruments — a pattern worth watching as more designations are expected.
NationPress
4 Jul 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What does it mean to be designated a terrorist under the UAPA?
Designation under the Fourth Schedule of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act allows the government to freeze an individual's assets, restrict their movement, and pursue further legal action against them. It is distinct from banning an organisation and targets individuals personally responsible for terrorist activity.
Who are the key figures among the 23 newly designated terrorists?
Prominent names include Masood Ilyas Kashmiri and Mohammad Mussadiq of Jaish-e-Mohammed, both linked to the 2022 Sunjwan attack; Mufti Muhammad Asghar Khan and Abdullah Jehadi, alleged masterminds of the 2016 Nagrota Army camp attack; and Firdous Ahmad Bhat and Haroon Rashid Ganai of Lashkar-e-Taiba.
How many of the 23 designated individuals are Pakistani nationals?
Of the 23 individuals designated, 17 are Pakistani nationals and 6 are Indian nationals. According to the government, all of them currently operate from Pakistan or Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
Why has the government increasingly used individual UAPA designations?
Following amendments to the UAPA that came into force in 2019, the Centre has used individual designations to target the people behind recruitment, financing, training, and infiltration networks — not just the organisations themselves. The approach is aimed at disrupting operational continuity even when groups rebrand or splinter.
What were the Nagrota and Sunjwan attacks?
The 2016 Nagrota Army camp attack in Jammu and Kashmir resulted in the deaths of seven Indian soldiers and has been linked to JeM operatives now named on the list. The 2022 Sunjwan attack, also in Jammu, is similarly attributed to JeM-linked individuals among those newly designated.
