Pakistan raises bounty on Masood Azhar ahead of crucial FATF meet

Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has put Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar on its latest Red Book of most-wanted terrorists and raised the reward for information leading to his arrest from 50 lakh to 70 lakh Pakistani rupees. This move comes just weeks before the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an intergovernmental organisation that counters money laundering and terror financing, meets in October.

Masood Azhar is well-known in Pakistan. He started JeM in 2000 with the active help of Pakistan’s notorious Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) after being released from Indian custody during the IC-814 hijacking. The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) named him a global terrorist in May 2019. His group has been connected to the 2001 Parliament attack, the 2016 Pathankot attack and the 2019 Pulwama bombing, which killed 40 Indian security personnel.

The revised list announced by the FIA describes Azhar as armed and very dangerous and includes cases against him in Gujranwala, Multan and Lahore. The Red Book now has 1,804 names, up from 1,330 in 2021.

The announcement came weeks before the FATF plenary, due in October. Pakistan was put on the FATF’s grey list from 2018 until 2022 because of shortcomings in its anti-money laundering and counter-terror financing measures, specifically regarding action taken against networks associated with the JeM and Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT). Pakistan removed it from the list in October 2022 after it carried out the agreed action plan. Since 2021, Pakistan has maintained that Azhar is no longer on its soil and has taken refuge in Afghanistan. That year, Pakistan’s FIA first put a reward for information on Azhar.

Pakistan is not currently on the FATF grey list, and Indian officials have suggested they might ask for Islamabad’s case to be further examined at the October plenary because designated groups remain active.

FIA officials have not released a detailed public statement beyond the Red Book entries.

A senior Afghan official recently dismissed Pakistan’s claim that Azhar is in the country. According to Indian intelligence sources, technical evaluations over the past six months show that Azhar has been based in Nawabshah in Sindh province. The sources said the most recent inclusion of Azhar on the list, along with the increased reward, is an attempt to show he is active ahead of the FATF review.

The names included in the FIA Red Book still relate to the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Two names that previously had detailed descriptions of their alleged roles are now kept in the most recent version of the list, according to those who have reviewed it.

Previously, Pakistani authorities have taken legal action against JeM, banned the organisation and its affiliated groups, and have brought legal cases against its leadership, including securing convictions in absentia. The FATF meeting in October will review the measures member States have taken to implement the counter-terror financing standards. Pakistan remains under monitoring by the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering following its withdrawal from enhanced monitoring in 2022.