How Lashkar Terrorist Directed Pahalgam Terror Attack From Pakistan: NIA Chargesheet

The terror attack that killed 26 tourists in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam in April 2025 was entirely controlled from Pakistan, according to the chargesheet filed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), the country's top terror-fighting body.

The entire conspiracy to carry out the terror attack at the popular tourist place in the picturesque Union Territory was also planned in Pakistan, the chargesheet said. Pakistani terrorists then floated a fake narrative of a "false flag operation" by India to mislead the world, sources said.

All these findings have been corroborated with solid evidence, the chargesheet said.

Saifullah alias Sajid Jatt alias 'Langda', a terrorist of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and its proxy The Resistance Front (TRF), operated from Pakistan's Lahore and gave instructions to the terrorists in Pahalgam.

Saifullah is now among India's most wanted terrorists, the NIA said. Hiding deep inside Pakistan, he has not stopped planning terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir, sources said.

The NIA has also exposed Pakistan's "false flag" narrative over the Pahalgam terror attack. Immediately after the killings of the tourists, the TRF claimed responsibility on a Telegram channel called 'Kashmir Fight'.

As international criticism rose and the UN Security Council condemned the attack, the TRF began to backtrack and it subsequently claimed the Telegram channel had been hacked, and that the TRF had no involvement in the attack.

The NIA's technical investigation found the 'Kashmir Fight' Telegram channel originated from Battagram area in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. A second Telegram channel named 'TheResistanceFront_OfFcial' operated from Rawalpindi, the NIA found.

LeT and its proxy orchestrated the "false flag" narrative to mislead the world and create an impression that someone else carried out the attack.

At least two mobile phones recovered from the terrorists killed during 'Operation Mahadev' turned out to have been bought somewhere in Pakistan, the NIA said. One of the phones was bought online and was sent to an address in Lahore's Quaid-e-Azam Industrial Estate; the other was bought from Karachi's Shahra locality.

On April 15 and 16, Saifullah, based in Pakistan, sent three terrorists - Faisal Jatt alias Suleiman, Habib Tahir alias Chhotu, and Hamza Afghani - to recce Baisaran valley and its surrounding areas, the NIA chargesheet said. They looked at security arrangements and tourist movement.

Then, on the day of the terror attack, Saifullah remained in constant contact from Lahore with the terrorists and sent them real-time information including coordinates and other location data, the NIA chargesheet said.

Saifullah's direct instructions from Pakistan included the terrorists' movements, their hideouts and escape routes, the NIA said. Two local residents identified as Parvez and Bashir Ahmed had helped the Pakistani terrorists in carrying out the attack, the NIA said.

The Pahalgam terror attack triggered India's decisive 'Operation Sindoor' that smashed terror and military infrastructure deep inside Pakistan. The Indian Air Force (IAF) reduced the LeT's terror launchpads to rubble with precision glide bombs, drones and cruise missiles. India also crippled Pakistani air defence and other key military assets, notably with BrahMos cruise missile strikes.