Islamabad, Sept 15: In another attempt to mislead the global community, Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has raised the reward for information leading to the whereabouts of Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar—who features on its list of most wanted terrorists—by 20 lakh Pakistani rupees, setting the total at 70 lakh rupees. This development comes just weeks before the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) meeting scheduled for October.
Where is Masood Azhar now?
In 2021, the Federal Investigation Agency had announced a reward of 50 lakh Pakistani rupees for information leading to Masood Azhar’s arrest. Subsequently, Pakistan consistently claimed that Azhar was not in the country but was hiding in Afghanistan. However, according to Indian intelligence agencies, Azhar is located in Nawabshah, in Pakistan’s Sindh province. Sources indicated that this information was obtained based on technical analysis conducted over the past six months. Sources analyze that the inclusion of Azhar’s name in the Federal Investigation Agency’s 2026 ‘Red Book’ and the hike in the reward amount represent Pakistan’s attempt to demonstrate that it is taking action against terror networks ahead of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) meeting.
Azhar is wanted in connection with several attacks in India, including the Pulwama attack in February 2019, which claimed the lives of 40 CRPF personnel.