Islamabad, Sep 14: Pakistan has maintained a reward of 7 million rupees on information leading to the arrest of Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar, who continues to be listed in the country’s Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) “Red Book” of most-wanted terrorists, officials said on Monday.
Azhar, the founder and chief of Jaish-e-Mohammed, is wanted in India in connection with several terror cases, including the 2001 attack on Parliament. He was also among the 20 fugitives India sought from Pakistan, a demand it renewed after the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, which were carried out by 10 Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists who killed 166 people.
Indian authorities have also linked Jaish-e-Mohammed to subsequent attacks, including the 2016 Pathankot airbase attack and the 2019 Pulwama bombing.
India has for years accused Pakistan of sheltering Azhar, while Pakistan has maintained that he fled to Afghanistan – a claim rejected by Afghanistan’s Taliban government.
Azhar’s name was included in the FIA’s Red Book of most-wanted terrorists in 2021, according to information provided by the agency.
His name has been included in FIA’s 2026 Red Book as well, officials said.
He has been identified in the list as the head of Jaish-e-Mohammad, with the date of entry given as December 31, 2021. The entry was made at the request of the Home Department, Punjab.
The list places Azhar at serial number 1480 and contains 1,804 names of most-wanted terrorists. The entry describes Azhar as healthy and heavily built and of normal medium height.
The details show that he is wanted in three cases: FIR-17/20 dated December 3, 2020, under sections 11-EE(4), 11-F(2), 11-W and 11-OOO of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, registered at the Counter Terrorism Department police station in Gujranwala; FIR-8/20 dated March 9, 2020, under section 11-EE(4) of the Anti-Terrorism Act, registered at the CTD police station in Multan; and FIR-4/21 dated March 29, 2021, under sections 11-H(3), 11-I, 11-J(2) and 11-N of the Anti-Terrorism Act, registered at the CTD police station in Lahore.
“The Federal/Provincial Govt. of Pakistan is offering a reward of up to Rs. 7,000,000/- for information leading directly to the apprehension or conviction of Maulana Masood Azhar Maulana S/o Khuda Baksh,” the entry says.
The latest development comes ahead of the Financial Action Task Force’s next plenary, scheduled to be held in Paris from October 26 to 30.
The FATF’s plenary meetings typically include discussions and decisions on jurisdictions’ efforts to address deficiencies in combating money laundering and terrorist financing, among other issues.
Pakistan was placed under the FATF’s increased monitoring, commonly known as the “grey list”, in 2018 and remained there until 2022.
However, it was removed from the list after completing the commitments under two FATF action plans – one agreed in 2018 and another in 2021 – covering measures such as strengthening its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing regime and improving the implementation of targeted financial sanctions.–(PTI)
