Hafiz Saeed: The Lashkar-e-Taiba Chief Now At The Centre Of The NIA's Pahalgam Case

For more than two decades, Hafiz Saeed has figured prominently in India's investigations into some of its deadliest terror attacks. On July 6, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) named the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba founder as an accused in its supplementary chargesheet in the Pahalgam terror attack case, bringing him into the agency's prosecution of one of the deadliest attacks on civilians in Jammu and Kashmir in recent years.

Announcing the supplementary chargesheet, the NIA said Saeed had been charged in his individual capacity as well as in his role as the chief of the banned LeT and its active proxy organisation, The Resistance Front (TRF). The agency has invoked provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), accusing him of waging war against India and hatching a cross-border conspiracy. It said the latest filing, submitted before the NIA Special Court in Jammu, is a continuation of its earlier 1,597-page chargesheet and contains evidence gathered through scientific investigation and on-ground examination.

The latest filing marks a significant stage in the Pahalgam investigation. While Indian agencies have long accused Saeed of directing militant operations against India, this is the first time the NIA has formally named him as an accused in its prosecution of the attack. The move shifts the focus of the case beyond those alleged to have carried out the killings to the leadership that investigators say planned, directed and supported the operation from across the border.

From academia to the head of Lashkar-e-Taiba

Now 76, Saeed was born into a family that migrated from the Indian side of Punjab to Pakistan during Partition. He studied Islamic studies at King Saud University in Saudi Arabia before beginning his career as a professor of Islamic studies.

According to the United Nations, Saeed travelled to Afghanistan in the late 1970s or early 1980s for militant training before founding Lashkar-e-Taiba around 1990. In the decades that followed, LeT emerged as one of the Pakistan-based militant organisations most frequently accused by India of carrying out attacks in Jammu and Kashmir and elsewhere in the country.

The UN has linked Saeed to both the ideological and operational functioning of the organisation. It says he played a key role in LeT's fundraising and operational activities, oversaw the management and financing of a militant camp in 2006, and established a LeT office in Quetta the same year to assist Taliban operations in Afghanistan.

Indian investigators have consistently described The Resistance Front as an active proxy of Lashkar-e-Taiba. In its latest chargesheet, the NIA has accused Saeed not only as the chief of LeT but also as the head of TRF, alleging that both organisations were involved in planning, facilitating and executing the Pahalgam attack.

From Mumbai to Pahalgam: A familiar name in India's terror investigations

Long before the Pahalgam attack, Saeed had become one of India's most wanted militant leaders.

Indian agencies have blamed Lashkar-e-Taiba for a series of major attacks, including the Red Fort attack in 2000, the Parliament attack in 2001, the Akshardham Temple attack in 2002, the Mumbai suburban train bombings in 2006 and the 26/11 Mumbai attacks in 2008, which killed 166 people.

The Mumbai attacks also intensified international scrutiny of Saeed. In 2008, India and the United States successfully pushed for his listing under the United Nations sanctions regime, resulting in an assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo. The United States had already designated Lashkar-e-Taiba as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in 2001 before naming Saeed a Specially Designated Global Terrorist in 2008. Four years later, Washington announced a reward of $10 million for information leading to him being brought to justice.

Despite international sanctions, India has been unable to secure Saeed's custody. His legal status in Pakistan has been marked by repeated detentions, periods of house arrest and prosecution on terrorism financing charges. Reuters reported that he remains imprisoned in Pakistan following his conviction in 2020. Earlier accounts had reported that he was released from house arrest after Pakistani authorities chose not to pursue additional cases against him. Pakistan has not publicly responded to the NIA's supplementary chargesheet.

Why the Pahalgam chargesheet stands out?

The Pahalgam attack forms the basis of the latest charges against Saeed. On April 22, 2025, gunmen opened fire on tourists at Baisaran meadow near Pahalgam, a tourist destination with no motorable access where visitors usually travel on foot or by pony. The attack killed 25 visitors and one local resident.

Soon after the attack, The Resistance Front claimed responsibility before later withdrawing the claim. India maintained that the attackers were Pakistani nationals backed from across the border, while Pakistan denied any involvement and called for an independent investigation.

The case was initially registered as FIR No. 25/2025 at Pahalgam Police Station before the Ministry of Home Affairs transferred the investigation to the NIA.

The first chargesheet, filed on December 15, 2025, named Pakistani handler Sajid Jatt, three militants who were later killed by Indian security forces during Operation Mahadev in July 2025, and two arrested accused. It also arraigned Lashkar-e-Taiba and The Resistance Front as organisations for their alleged role in planning, facilitating and executing the attack.

The latest filing expands that prosecution by naming Saeed himself. The NIA says it details his alleged role in the conspiracy and is supported by material collected during forensic examination and field investigation. It accuses him of directing the conspiracy from Pakistan and charges him under multiple provisions of the BNS and the UAPA, including offences relating to waging war against India.

The filing also comes after India's military response to the Pahalgam attack. Under Operation Sindoor, India said it targeted multiple facilities linked to Saeed's network, while Operation Mahadev resulted in the killing of the three militants accused of carrying out the attack.

The NIA has said it will continue investigating the case to unravel what it describes as the complete conspiracy behind the Pahalgam attack. By naming Hafiz Saeed in its supplementary chargesheet, the agency has formally named the founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba as an accused in the case, linking its investigation not only to those alleged to have carried out the attack but also to the leadership it says conceived and directed the conspiracy from across the border.