‘Regrettable that JeM chief Masood Azhar continues to find shelter in Pakistan’: MEA

Two days after the National Investigating Agency (NIA) filed a chargesheet in the 2019 Pulwama terror attack naming Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar as the mastermind, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said, “Even after Jaish-e-Mohammed claimed responsibility for Pulwama attack, it’s regrettable that Masood Azhar, the first accused, continues to find shelter in Pakistan. We have shared enough evidence with Pakistan but it continues to evade responsibility.”

Addressing a virtual press conference on Thursday, Srivastava said, “Pulwama attack chargesheet was filed after probe of a year and half. It has been filed to address the act of terrorism and to bring perpetrators of the heinous crime to justice. Our aim is not to simply issue statements or notifications.”

The NIA on Tuesday filed a 13,500 page chargesheet in the 2019 Pulwama terror attack, where 40 Indian soldiers were martyred. In its massive chargesheet, the security agency has named Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar and a 18 other persons, reported PTI. 

“Besides JeM chief Masood Azhar, those chargesheeted in 2019 Pulwama case include 7 terrorists who were killed, 7 arrested, 4 absconders,” the NIA said in a statement.

The agency also said that the ‘almost blind terror case’ that was solved in 18 months had revealed a conspiracy hatched in Pakistan by JeM to carry out the attack.

Earlier in July, the NIA had arrested a Pulwama resident for allegedly providing logistical support to terrorists involved in planning the attack on a CRPF convoy that left 40 jawans dead in the south Kashmir district in February last year, reported PTI.