Pakistan-Based Lashkar-e-Taiba Commander Saifullah Sajid Jutt Named In Pahalgam Terror Attack Chargesheet

The attack was reportedly orchestrated as a joint ISI-LeT conspiracy, with instructions from the ISI to use only Pakistani terrorists to execute the operation, keeping local involvement minimal to maintain secrecy.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has identified Saifullah Sajid Jutt, also known as Habibullah Malik and by the alias 'Langda', as the key mastermind behind the April 2025 Pahalgam terror attack. The NIA named him in its 1,597-page chargesheet, confirming his role along with six others in planning and executing the attack.

Sources from intelligence agencies stated that Sajid Jutt, a top commander of the Pakistan-based terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), reportedly operates from Islamabad, Pakistan, and maintains close ties with Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). The attack was reportedly orchestrated as a joint ISI-LeT conspiracy, with instructions from the ISI to use only Pakistani terrorists to execute the operation, keeping local involvement minimal to maintain secrecy.

Jutt is a high-ranking operational commander for LeT and oversees the activities of its proxy group, The Resistance Front (TRF). He is involved in recruitment, terror financing, infiltration of militants into India, and directing TRF’s digital outreach in Kashmir. Security agencies suspect him to be the mastermind behind several high-profile attacks in Jammu and Kashmir, including the 2025 Pahalgam attack that killed 25 tourists and one civilian, the 2024 Reasi terror attack on a bus carrying pilgrims which claimed nine lives, as well as earlier attacks on Indian Army personnel, such as the 2013 Srinagar Hyderpora attack and the 2002 killing of a SHO in Budgam.

Sajid Jutt hails from Kasur district, Punjab, Pakistan, and had been active in Kashmir in the early 2000s before returning to Pakistan in 2005. He is listed among the most-wanted terrorists by the NIA, with a reward of ₹10 lakh for information leading to his capture.

In its chargesheet filed before the NIA Special Court, Jammu, the agency detailed Pakistan’s involvement and the roles of the accused, charging the banned LeT/TRF as a legal entity for its role in planning, facilitating, and executing the Pahalgam attack. The NIA also named three Pakistani terrorists, Faisal Jatt (@Suleman Shah), Habeeb Tahir (@Jibran), and Hamza Afghani, who were killed by Indian security forces during Operation Mahadev in Dachigam, Srinagar, in July 2025.

The chargesheet cites violations under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, the Arms Act, 1959, and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, including penal provisions for waging war against India.

The investigation, spanning nearly eight months, traced the conspiracy to Pakistan, highlighting its ongoing sponsorship of terrorism against India. Additionally, Parvaiz Ahmad and Bashir Ahmad Jothar, arrested by the NIA on 22 June 2025 for harboring terrorists, have also been charge-sheeted. During interrogation, they disclosed the identities of the three armed terrorists involved in the attack and confirmed their affiliation with the proscribed LeT outfit.

The NIA stated that further investigation is ongoing and additional details will be shared in due course.