NIA court issues proclamation notice against Masood, 3 others

An NIA court in Punjab on Tuesday issued proclamation notice against Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed's chief Maulana Masood Azhar and three others, asking them to appear before it on March nine in connection with last year's brazen attack on Pathankot IAF base.

An agency spokesman said the special Court in Mohali issued the proclamation notice against Azhar, his brother Mufti Abdul Rauf Asgar, Shahid Latif and Kashif Jan (both handlers of four terrorists who were killed in retaliatory action by Indian forces).

All the four have been charge-sheeted by the NIA for their role in planning and execution of the terror strike on the strategic IAF base at Pathankot on the intervening night of January one and two 2016.

The proclamation notice, which has been issued under section 82 of Criminal Procedure Code, will have to be published in newspapers,

including in the country where they are believed to be hiding, which apparently is Pakistan, sources in the counter-terrorism probe agency said.

The NIA, after wrapping up investigation in the case, had filed a charge sheet in December last year against Masood Azhar and three others for plotting the audacious terror strike that left seven personnel of Indian security forces dead and 37 others injured.