Islamabad: Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar has been named among Pakistan’s most-wanted high-profile terrorists in the latest edition of the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) Red Book.
FIA has also raised the bounty on Azhar by PKR 20 lakh, taking the total reward for information leading to his arrest to PKR 70 lakh.
This marks a significant change in how Pakistan’s law enforcement machinery views Azhar, who was named a UN-designated global terrorist in May, 2019.
The move comes weeks before the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) plenary session, scheduled to be held in Paris from October 26 to 30.
Despite not being on the FATF grey list currently, Pakistan has been facing heightened international scrutiny over its efforts to combat terrorism financing and dismantle militant networks.
The decision to publicly list Azhar as an absconder and increase the bounty is Pakistan’s way of trying to demonstrate action taken against terror networks, and compliance with international counterterrorism and anti-money laundering requirements.
In 2021, the FIA had announced a reward of PKR 50 lakh for information leading to Azhar’s arrest. Thereafter, Pakistan has maintained that Azhar is no longer in the country, and hiding in Afghanistan.
However, Indian intelligence agencies believe Azhar is in Nawabshah, in Pakistan’s Sindh province.
Azhar is wanted in India in connection with multiple terror attacks, including the February 2019 Pulwama bombing in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed.
19 linked to 26/11 attack named
FIA’s latest Red Book list also names 19 persons linked to the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks in 2008 for allegedly helping finance the operation or arranging boats used by the attackers.
Seventeen of them are listed with photographs and details of their alleged roles.
Even as Pakistan has said time and again that suspects linked to the Mumbai attacks have been absconding for 18 years, Indian intelligence sources have claimed that they remain in Pakistan and described their inclusion in the list as an eyewash.