New Delhi
India has declared Masood Azhar, leader of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), and Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, chief of the banned Jamaatud Dawa (JuD), as terrorists under a new law.
The Indian home ministry named the two as terrorists under the amended Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Act.
The new law empowers the government to designate an individual as a terrorist if he is found committing, preparing for, promoting or involved in an act of terror. The designation can lead to their arrest, a freezing of assets and a ban on leaving the country.
In a post shared on Twitter, in-charge of South Asia affairs at the US State Department Alice G. Wells commended India for utilising legal authorities to designate “four notorious terrorists”.
“We stand with India and commend it for utilising new legal authorities to designate four notorious terrorists: Maulana Masood Azhar, Hafiz Saeed, Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and Dawood Ibrahim. This new law expands possibilities for joint #USIndia efforts to combat scourge of terrorism.”—AP
