The chief of Pakistan-based Islamist terror organisation Hizbul Mujahideen, Mohammad Yousuf Shah alias Syed Salah-ud-Din, has been declared as a proclaimed offender by a court in Jammu and Kashmir's Baramulla in a 2012 case.
The Court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate in Sopore has declared Shah a proclaimed offender under Section 153-B of the Ranbir Penal Code for making statements harmful to national integration, and under Section 506 of the Indian Penal Code for issuing criminal threats.
"The war against terror continues: J&K Police secures proclamation orders against the proscribed self-styled Commander of Hizbul Mujahideen, Md Yousuf Shah alias Syed Salahuddin, who has been provided sanctuary by #Pakistan, in FIR 67/2012 of PS Dangiwacha!" the J-K Police said on X.
In July this year, an NIA court in Srinagar declared Shah a proclaimed offender under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). The court had issued a public notice asking Shah, a resident of Soibugh in Badgam, to appear before it in connection with serious charges under the UAPA and the Ranbir Penal Code.
Srinagar Police has appealed to the public for any information on the whereabouts of Salahuddin and urged cooperation in the interest of justice and public safety.
Who is Mohammad Yousuf Shah?
Mohammad Yusuf Shah, widely known as Syed Salahuddin, is the chief of Hizbul Mujahideen (HM), a militant organization active in the Kashmir region.
In September 2016, Salahuddin publicly rejected any peaceful resolution to the Kashmir conflict, threatening instead to escalate violence by training more Kashmiri suicide bombers. He vowed to turn the Kashmir Valley into a "graveyard for Indian forces."
Shah declared SDGT by US
Under his leadership, Hizbul Mujahideen has claimed responsibility for multiple attacks, including an April 2014 bombing in Jammu and Kashmir that injured 17 people.
In 2017, the US Department of State designated Salahuddin as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) for his role in orchestrating terrorist activities in the region.
