India designates JeM chief Masood Azhar’s brother Ammar Alvi as terrorist

Ammar Alvi, brother of Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Maulana Masood Azhar, was designated by the Union home ministry as a terrorist under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, or UAPA, for his role in the Pulwama suicide bombing

The Centre on Monday designated Mohiuddin Aurangzeb Alamgir alias Ammar Alvi, the mastermind of February 14, 2019 Pulwama attack and brother of Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Maulana Masood Azhar, as an “individual terrorist” under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

Terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Maulana Masood Azhar, and his brothers Abdul Rouf Asghar Alvi and Ammar Alvi, plotted the Pulwama terror attack and guided the JeM terrorists who infiltrated into India, both before and after the attack. (Reuters File Photo)

Ammar Alvi, 39, a resident of Bahawalpur, Punjab (Pakistan), is a senior leader of JeM and was involved in the 2019 Pulwama suicide attack, in which 40 personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were killed, according to a notification issued by the ministry of home affairs.

“Mohiuddin Aurangzeb Alamgir alias Alvi is involved in anti-India terror activities on behalf of Jaish-e-Mohammad. He looks after JeM’s fund collection activities from Pakistani nationals and routing the said fund to Kashmir in India,” it said.

A government official said on condition of anonymity that once a person is designated as a terrorist under the federal anti-terror law, agencies such as the National Investigation Agency (NIA) can seize the assets of such persons.

The home ministry further stated that Alvi has also been involved in facilitating the infiltration of Afghan cadres and coordinating terror attacks on Indian security forces in Jammu and Kashmir.

Ammar Alvi has already been charge-sheeted along with his brothers, Maulana Masood Azhar and Abdul Rauf Asghar, in August 2020 by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). The agency also named their nephew Umar Farooq, who was sent to Kashmir to execute the Pulwama attack, and 15 others.

Investigators said it was Ammar Alvi who was constantly guiding Umar Farooq on the Pulwama conspiracy from Pakistan over the phone.

Alvi’s designation under UAPA comes two days after the Centre notified Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) chief Hafiz Saeed’s son Talha Saeed as a terrorist.

A 2019 amendment to the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act empowers the Centre to designate people as terrorists under the law if it believes that they are involved in terrorism.