Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, April 14: India has designated Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar, the founder of Al-Umar Mujahideen, as a terrorist. Zargar was one of the released terrorists in the 1999 Indian Airlines Flight (IC-814) hijacking crisis in exchange for the hostages.
Zargar was labelled as a terrorist under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in a gazette notification released on Wednesday.
The ministry said in its notification that “he is hreat to peace, not only to India but across the world, with his contacts and proximity to radical terrorist groups like the AlQaeda and Jaish-Mohammed”.
The MHA stated in the notification that Zargar was a member of the terror group ‘Jammu-Kashmir Liberation Front’ and had travelled to Pakistan to get illegal arms and ammunition training.
According to the announcement, Zargar alias Latram, 52, a resident of Gani Mohalla in Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir, has been running an ongoing campaign from Pakistan to fuel terrorism in the state.
Notably in the year 1999, during the Indian Airlines Flight hijacking crisis, Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar was one of the terrorists freed in return for the hostages of Indian Airlines Flight IC-814. He has been involved in a number of terror-related offences, including murder, attempted murder, kidnapping, terrorist attack preparation and execution, and terror finance.