The Bihar Police Headquarters (PHQ) has issued a statewide high alert after receiving intelligence inputs about the possible entry of Pakistan-based terrorists into the state through the porous Nepal border.

According to intelligence sources, three individuals believed to be affiliated with the Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) reportedly infiltrated Bihar by crossing over from Nepal. The suspects have been identified as Hasnain Ali from Rawalpindi, Adil Hussain from Umerkot, and Mohammad Usman from Bahawalpur.

In response, the PHQ has circulated their names, photographs, and passport information to police units in all border districts, directing heightened surveillance and verification efforts.

Reports suggest the suspects arrived in Kathmandu in the second week of August and made their way into Bihar during the third week. With the Bihar Assembly elections approaching, security agencies are on high alert amid concerns about potential terror threats during the election period.

Senior police officials across the state have been briefed, and district intelligence units have been instructed to ramp up field monitoring, gather actionable information, and respond swiftly to any suspicious developments.

Authorities are concerned that the infiltrators could be plotting a significant terror attack, possibly targeting the poll-bound state or other regions in India.

This development comes just months after a similar security breach in May, when 18 individuals illegally entered Bihar over a span of 20 days. One of those apprehended was found to be a Khalistani-linked operative.

Bihar’s extensive 729-kilometre open border with Nepal continues to pose a serious security challenge. Seven districts in the state share this international boundary, complicating efforts for round-the-clock monitoring. Additionally, the proximity of the Bangladesh border just 20 km from Kishanganj district adds another layer of vulnerability.

(With inputs from News 18)

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Quoting Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s “Crime and Punishment,” the Delhi High Court on 20 May 2024 reduced the sentences of five members of the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror group. The court shortened their life imprisonment sentences to ten years for their offenses under Section 121A of the Indian Penal Code.

The division bench, comprising Justice Suresh Kumar Kait and Justice Manoj Jain, ruled on the appeals of Bilal Ahmad Mir, Sajjad Ahmad Khan, Muzaffar Ahmad Bhat, Mehraj-ud-Din Chopan, and Ishfaq Ahmad Bhatt, who were initially sentenced to life imprisonment by the trial court.

The court also lessened the punishment from life imprisonment to ten years of rigorous imprisonment for their violation of Section 23 of the UAPA. Citing Dostoyevsky, the court noted, “If he has a conscience, he will suffer for his mistake; that will be punishment – as well as the prison.” In 2022, the trial court convicted the five for various charges under the IPC and UAPA, and they pleaded guilty, receiving their sentences on 28 November 2022. The NIA had described them as highly radicalized Over Ground Workers of Jaish-e-Mohammed involved in several terrorist activities in India.

The bench acknowledged the seriousness of the allegations but emphasized there was no proof of them committing any terrorist acts, stating they were mainly found guilty of conspiracy rather than actual terrorist acts. The court stressed the importance of balancing justice and the possibility of reform, noting there was no indication the convicts were irredeemable.

The bench criticized the lack of sentencing guidelines that could aid in determining appropriate sentences, highlighting the inconsistency in sentencing due to the unique circumstances of each case. The court recognized that while the convicts did not deserve excessive leniency, their immediate confession, relatively clean records, willingness to rehabilitate, and young age warranted a reduced sentence. It also pointed out that the trial court had been overly influenced by the severity of the allegations without considering the convicts’ remorse and early guilty pleas.

The court concluded stating, “Given their youth and lack of prior convictions, the trial court should have focused on their rehabilitation, as noted in the judgment, but not fully realized. Thus, the sentences under Section 121A IPC and Section 23 UAPA are reduced.”

Delhi High Court invokes Dostoevsky's 'Crime and Punishment' to reduce sentence of 5 JeM operatives

Read story here: https://t.co/ZlaHgnmD3d pic.twitter.com/Henxajl59N

— Bar and Bench (@barandbench) May 21, 2024

(With Inputs From OpIndia)

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As the Pakistan government refused to publicly acknowledge Osama Bin Ladan as a terrorist and still believe he was a martyr, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval has proposed a plan of action against Lashkar e Taiba (LeT) and Jaish e Mohammad (JeM) as part of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) framework.

Doval wants the adoption of international standards to counter terror financing, including a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between SCO and the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), and what is even more important is that Doval made this statement in the presence of his Pakistani counterpart Moeed Yusuf.

According to India over the years both the LeT that carried out the 26/11 terror attack in Mumbai, the attack on the Indian parliament, and JeM which was responsible for the Pulwama suicide attack also planned and carried out multiple operations in India in the two decades,

Also, these groups have a long history of promoting infiltration in Jammu and Kashmir and indoctrinating youth across India in radical Islamic Jihadist ideology and have also been involved in terror financing and strongly condemned terrorism in all forms and manifestations, particularly those who carry out cross-border terror attacks, should be brought to justice

Recently a French think tank. the Centre for Analysis of Terrorism in its analysis has warned that Kashmir-focused Pakistani terror outfits are now active in Afghanistan and are planning to target India and its interests
 
Right now the FATF plenary session is going on in Paris and could soon decide on keeping Pakistan on the grey list or putting it on its blacklist.

The Indian NSA also called for full implementation of United Nations (UN) resolutions and targeted sanctions against UN-designated terrorist individuals and entities and then told SCO members that emerging technology utilized by terrorists, like drones for weapon smuggling and misuse of the dark web, artificial intelligence, blockchain, and social media, must be monitored.
 
During the SCO meeting of NSAs, Doval called on the importance of cooperation and the need for greater connectivity including, through initiatives like Chahbahar, The International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), Regional Air Corridors, Ashgabat Agreement will lead to economic gains and building trust but connectivity must respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of nations.
 
The NSAs of the SCO nations also held detailed discussions on Afghanistan that has recently witnessed a surge in Taliban violence and the territorial gains it has made and why it is important to preserve the gains made in the last two decades in Afghanistan.
 
Doval said India fully supports the SCO Contact Group on Afghanistan and called for more active involvement.

Though India became a member of the SCO in 2017, it has “physical, spiritual, cultural, and philosophical inter-linkages for centuries with countries that now make up SCO”.

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Representational Photograph

Indian security forces in the Shopian district of the Union Territory (UT) of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) have eliminated four militants belonging to the banned Islamic terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba, reports Zee News. 

“One more unidentified terrorist killed in Shopian encounter, total of four terrorists affiliated with proscribed terror outfit LeT killed, incriminating materials including arms and ammunition recovered. Search going on,” police said.

The encounter took place in the Manihal area of the Shopian district where a joint team of security forces of CRPF, Indian Army and J&K Police personnel, had launched a cordon and search operation following information about the presence of terrorists in the region.

Last week, two top commanders of a terrorist outfit were killed in Rawalpora village in Shopian, the Police said. Among the dead was Vilayat Ahmad Lone alias Sajjad Afghani of Shopian, the Jaish-e-Mohammad commander in Shopian.

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Former Indian Army chief General (retd) VK Singh who is now a Union Minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet has called for the blacklisting of Pakistan Financial Action Task Force (FATF) after the public admission by Pakistan Federal Minister Fawad Chaudhry who spoke in the Pakistani National Assembly and said he is proud of his government’s role in Pulwama terror attack.

According to Singh, this statement made by Chaudhry in Pakistan Parliament vindicates India’s stand on carrying out the Balakot airstrike, reports Times Now.

He reportedly told news agency ANI, “I would like to thank him for admitting the truth concerning Pulwama terror attack. We had said right in the beginning that all the leads point towards Pakistan. The government of India subsequently took action against the terrorists that were harboured in Pakistan.”

“I am sure our government will utilise this admission by Pakistan to tell the world that Pakistan needs to be blacklisted by FATF and that nobody should give aid to Pakistan,” he added.

Chaudhry who is known to make outlandish statements while speaking at the National Assembly called the cowardly suicide car bomb attack carried out by Islamic terrorists who belonged to the banned Jaish e Mohammad (JeM) a “great achievement”.

Pakistan’s Science and Technology minister Fawad Chaudhry went on to say that the Pulwama terror attack that killed forty Indian Para-Military personals was undertaken under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan.

The reason for Chaudhry to make such a statement which only provided India with more evidence of Pakistan state-sponsored terrorism was after Pakistan MP Ayaz Sadiq who had said that, “When Chief of Army Staff General Bajwa came to meet foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi for a meeting, his legs were shaking and there was sweat on his forehead. Qureshi told him to let Abhinandan go for god’s sake as India was about to attack Pakistan at 9 PM”.

Choudhry in turn called Sadiq’s statement as lies and stated, “Humne Hindustan ko ghuske mara hai…aur Pukwama mein jo hamari kamiyabi hai who Imran Khan ki qayadat mein is kaum ki kamyabhi hai, uske hissedar aap bhi sab hain, uske hissedar hum bhi sab hain (We attacked India in its own territory…and Pulwama was an achievement under the leadership of Imran Khan. You (opposition) are also a stakeholder in this success)”.

After the Pulwama terror attack, India carried out airstrikes on terror camps of JeM in Balakot which is Pakistani territory.

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In a bid to stay off from being blacklisted by the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF), the Pakistan government and the Pakistani army has frozen a total of 964 assets belonging to the banned Islamic terror groups Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JUD) and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM).

It must also be noted that these two Islamic jihadi outfits are considered as state assets by the Pakistan Army to carry out terror attacks against India and Afganistan. Just a while back JeM Emir, Masood Azhar had spoken to his supporters to continue the Jihad against India.

This action is being seen by many as cosmetic as it involves elements in terror financing and money laundering efforts towards fulfilling its obligations and requirements of the FATF 27-point action plan.

As per the Interior Ministry, 907 of the frozen assets belonged to the JuD and 57 to the JeM.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan said, “A total of 611 properties of the JuD were frozen in Punjab, 108 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 80 in Sindh, 61 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (Pakistan-occupied Kashmir), 30 in Balochistan and 17 in the Islamabad Capital Territory,”.

“Eight properties of the JeM were frozen in Punjab, 29 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 12 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, four in the Islamabad Capital Territory, three in Sindh and one in Balochistan,” he added.

Giving details, Khan said: “The frozen properties of the JuD include 75 schools, four colleges, 330 mosques and seminaries, 186 dispensaries, 15 hospitals, 62 ambulances, a funeral bus (hearse), three disaster management offices, 10 boats, 17 buildings, a plot, agricultural land and two motorcycles.”

The frozen assets of JeM, Khan said, include “53 mosques and seminaries, two dispensaries and two ambulances”.

Pakistan has been on the FATF ‘ grey list’ and with the help of China and Turkey it has managed to avoid being blacklisted. However, it remains to be seen if Pakistan has complied with all the 27 points of the Action Plan given by FATF.

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