Latest news with #SajjadGul
India.com
08-05-2025
- India.com
Who is Sheikh Sajjad Gul, the mastermind behind Pahalgam terror attack, know his Karnataka and Kerala links
Sheikh Sajjad Gul New Delhi: The relationship between India and Pakistan touched a new low after Pakistan-backed terrorists attacked innocent tourists in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam. Sheikh Sajjad Gul, a 50-year-old Kashmiri and head of Lashkar-e-Taiba proxy The Resistance Front (TRF), has emerged as the mastermind of the cowardly attack, which claimed the lives of 26 people, mostly tourists, on April 22. Holed up in the Cantonment town of Rawalpindi, Pakistan, under the patronage of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Gul, who also goes by the alias of Sajjad Ahmed Sheikh, has been a planner of a number of terror attacks, including targeted killings between 2020 and 2024 in Central and South Kashmir, grenade attacks in Central Kashmir in 2023, ambush of J&K police personnel in Bijbehra in Anantnag, Gagangir, Z-Morh Tunnel attack in Ganderbal. The NIA had designated him a terrorist in April 2022 and kept a reward of Rs 10 lakh on his head. The official said that during the investigation into the deadly April 22 Pahalgam attack, links and some communications have been traced back to Gul. The TRF had claimed responsibility for the attack. The group, under Gul's instruction, had shot 25 tourists at point-blank range after asking their religion in Pahalgam on April 22. A local tourist guide was also killed by the terrorists. Used by Pakistan's external snooping agency ISI as a Kashmiri face of the local Punjabi-dominated Lashkar-e-Taiba, Sheikh was educated in Srinagar and did his MBA from Bangalore, later pivoting to a lab technician course in Kerala. He returned to the Valley, where he opened a diagnostic lab and started providing logistical support to the terror group. During his work as an overground worker (OGW) of the terror group, Gul was caught by the Special Cell of the Delhi police in 2002 from Nizamuddin Railway Station with 5 kilograms of RDX. It was revealed that he was conducting a recce and conspiring to conduct serial blasts in the national capital, for which he was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment on August 7, 2003. He moved to Pakistan after his release from prison in 2017, where the ISI chose him to lead a proxy of the LeT — The Resistance Front (TRF) — in Kashmir in 2019 to give it a facade of an indigenous terror movement of Jammu and Kashmir. The creation of TRF was a strategy of the ISI in the aftermath of the Pulwama incident in February 2019, when Pakistan had come to the adverse notice of the world for sponsoring and harbouring terror outfits like LeT and JeM. His brother, an ex-doctor in Shri Maharaja Hari Singh Hospital, Srinagar, was also a terrorist in the 1990s who had migrated to Saudi Arabia and later to Pakistan, where he is now involved in terror funding with fugitives in Gulf countries. (With PTI Inputs)
New Indian Express
07-05-2025
- New Indian Express
Pahalgam attack mastermind's Karnataka and Kerala links revealed
Sheikh Sajjad Gul, identified as the mastermind behind the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people, studied in Karnataka and Kerala before becoming involved with the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) proxy, The Resistance Front (TRF), in Kashmir. Gul, also known as Sajjad Ahmed Sheikh, is reportedly hiding in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, under the protection of the LeT. He has been linked to several terror activities in Jammu and Kashmir, including targeted killings in Central and South Kashmir from 2020 to 2024, grenade attacks in Central Kashmir in 2023, and ambushes on J&K police personnel in Bijbehra, Gagangir, and the Z-Morh Tunnel in Ganderbal. Designated a terrorist by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in April 2022, Gul carries a Rs 10 lakh bounty. Investigators probing the Pahalgam attack have traced communication links back to him, confirming his involvement in orchestrating the attack. The TRF, which claimed responsibility for the massacre, is believed to have acted on his orders. According to officials, the terrorists interrogated tourists about their religion before shooting 25 of them at point-blank range. A local guide who attempted to protect the victims was also killed. Sources say Gul has been a key asset for Pakistan's intelligence agency ISI, acting as a Kashmiri front for the predominantly Punjabi-led LeT. He was educated in Srinagar, earned an MBA in Bangalore, and later pursued a lab technician course in Kerala. Upon returning to Kashmir, he set up a diagnostic lab, which he used to provide logistical support to the terror group.
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Business Standard
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Business Standard
Emergency declared in Pak's Punjab province after Indian missile strikes
Emergency was declared on Wednesday in Pakistan's Punjab province even as all educational institutions closed in the wake of the Indian missile Pakistan army said that at least 26 people were killed and 46 injured in the Indian strikes launched shortly after midnight on cities in the Punjab province and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).ALSO READ: TRF head Sheikh Sajjad Gul identified as mastermind behind Pahalgam attackPunjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has declared a state of emergency across the province, a Punjab government statement said security agencies, including Punjab police, have been placed on high alert. Leaves of all doctors and medical staff across hospitals in Punjab have been READ: 'Indian rockets carry more than payloads': PM Modi on space explorationThe statement said all staff have been ordered to report for duty immediately and district administrations in all districts of Punjab have also been placed on high and personnel of all relevant institutions, including Civil Defence, have been summoned, it educational institutions would remain closed on Wednesday, the statement READ: Operation Sindoor: Government calls for all-party meeting on May 8The Pakistan airspace which was closed for all flight operations following the Indian attack is now partially being armed forces early Wednesday carried out missile strikes on nine terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir under Operation Sindoor in retaliation for the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22 that killed 26 people.
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Business Standard
07-05-2025
- Business Standard
TRF head Sheikh Sajjad Gul identified as mastermind behind Pahalgam attack
Sheikh Sajjad Gul, a 50-year-old Kashmiri and head of Lashkar-e-Taiba proxy The Resistance Front (TRF), has emerged as the mastermind of the Pahalgam terror attack, which claimed the lives of 26 people, mostly tourists, on April 22, officials said Wednesday. Holed up in the Cantonment town of Rawalpindi, Pakistan, under the patronage of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Gul, who also goes by the alias of Sajjad Ahmed Sheikh, has been a planner of a number of terror attacks, including targeted killings between 2020 and 2024 in Central and South Kashmir, grenade attacks in Central Kashmir in 2023, ambush of J&K police personnel in Bijbehra in Anantnag, Gagangir, Z-Morh Tunnel attack in Ganderbal. The NIA had designated him a terrorist in April 2022 and kept a reward of Rs 10 lakh on his head. The official said that during the investigation into the deadly April 22 Pahalgam attack, links and some communications have been traced back to Gul. The TRF had claimed responsibility for the attack. The group, under Gul's instruction, had shot 25 tourists at point-blank range after asking their religion in Pahalgam on April 22. A local tourist guide was also killed by the terrorists. Used by Pakistan's external snooping agency ISI as a Kashmiri face of the local Punjabi-dominated Lashkar-e-Taiba, Sheikh was educated in Srinagar and did his MBA from Bangalore, later pivoting to a lab technician course in Kerala. He returned to the Valley, where he opened a diagnostic lab and started providing logistical support to the terror group. During his work as an overground worker (OGW) of the terror group, Gul was caught by the Special Cell of the Delhi police in 2002 from Nizamuddin Railway Station with 5 kilograms of RDX. It was revealed that he was conducting a recce and conspiring to conduct serial blasts in the national capital, for which he was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment on August 7, 2003. He moved to Pakistan after his release from prison in 2017, where the ISI chose him to lead a proxy of the LeT The Resistance Front (TRF) in Kashmir in 2019 to give it a facade of an indigenous terror movement of Jammu and Kashmir. The creation of TRF was a strategy of the ISI in the aftermath of the Pulwama incident in February 2019, when Pakistan had come to the adverse notice of the world for sponsoring and harbouring terror outfits like LeT and JeM. His brother, an ex-doctor in Shri Maharaja Hari Singh Hospital, Srinagar, was also a terrorist in the 1990s who had migrated to Saudi Arabia and later to Pakistan, where he is now involved in terror funding with fugitives in Gulf countries.
Time of India
07-05-2025
- Time of India
Sheikh Sajjad Gul masterminded Pahalgam attack: Here's all about his terror trail from Delhi blasts to leading TRF in operations
Sheikh Sajjad Gul, a 50-year-old Kashmiri and head of Lashkar-e-Taiba's proxy group The Resistance Front (TRF), has been identified as the mastermind of the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam. The attack killed 26 people, mostly tourists, and also claimed the life of a local guide. Officials confirmed on Wednesday that communications traced during the investigation directly link Gul to the planning and execution of the massacre. The TRF had publicly claimed responsibility for the killings. A History of terror planning Operating under the alias Sajjad Ahmed Sheikh, Gul is reportedly holed up in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, and is under the patronage of Lashkar-e-Taiba. He has played a major role in several attacks across Jammu and Kashmir between 2020 and 2024. These include targeted killings, grenade attacks in Central Kashmir in 2023, and ambushes such as the Z-Morh Tunnel incident and a police attack in Bijbehra. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had designated him a terrorist in April 2022 and announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh for information on him. From lab technician to terror commander Originally from Srinagar, Gul completed an MBA in Bangalore and pursued a lab technician course in Kerala before returning to Kashmir to run a diagnostic lab. He soon began aiding Lashkar-e-Taiba as an overground worker. In 2002, he was arrested at Delhi's Nizamuddin Railway Station with 5 kilograms of RDX and was sentenced to 10 years in prison for planning serial blasts in Delhi. After his release in 2017, Gul moved to Pakistan, where he was handpicked by the ISI to lead TRF—created post-Pulwama to mask Pakistan's support for cross-border terrorism under a Kashmiri identity. Family ties to extremism Officials also revealed that Gul's brother, a former doctor at Srinagar's Shri Maharaja Hari Singh Hospital, was involved in terrorism during the 1990s. He later moved to Saudi Arabia and then to Pakistan, where he now helps fund terror networks along with other fugitives based in Gulf countries.
