Centre Appoints Karambir Singh Nalwa As Special Public Prosecutor For Pahalgam Terror Attack Trial

The Centre has appointed senior advocate Karambir Singh Nalwa as Special Public Prosecutor to lead the trial in the Pahalgam terror attack case , which left 25 tourists and a local pony operator dead in Jammu and Kashmir on April 22 last year.

The Union Home Ministry issued a notification on Wednesday exercising powers under the National Investigation Agency Act, 2008 and the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023 . Nalwa will conduct the prosecution on behalf of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) before the NIA Special Court in Jammu and the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh .

According to the order, his appointment will remain valid for three years or until the completion of the trial , whichever is earlier, or until the agency reviews his performance.

The NIA has filed a 1,597-page chargesheet against six individuals and two Pakistan-based terrorist organisations, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and its proxy outfit The Resistance Front (TRF) , in connection with the attack. Investigators said the conspiracy behind the massacre was traced to Pakistan, accusing it of continuing to sponsor terrorism against India.

The chargesheet names LeT chief Hafeez Saeed and TRF head Habibullah Malik alias Sajid Jatt for their alleged roles in planning, facilitating and directing the attack at Baisaran meadows near Pahalgam , a popular tourist destination in Anantnag district.

The three Pakistani terrorists who carried out the killings, Faisal Jatt alias Suleman Shah, Habeeb Tahir alias Jibran, and Hamza Afghani , were later eliminated by security forces during Operation Mahadev in Dachigam near Srinagar on July 29 , nearly 100 days after the attack.

Investigators said the attackers singled out victims on religious lines during the assault in the scenic Baisaran valley, one of the deadliest attacks on civilians in Kashmir in recent years.

Two local residents, Parvaiz Ahmad and Bashir Ahmad Jothar , arrested on June 22 last year for allegedly harbouring the terrorists, have also been named as accused in the NIA chargesheet.