Sajid Mir (born 1976 or 1978) is a Pakistani national and a member of the militant organisation

Lashkar-e-Taiba Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) is a Pakistani Islamism, Islamist militant organization driven by a Salafi jihadism, Salafi jihadist ideology. The organisation's primary stated objective is to merge the whole of Kashmir with Pakistan. It was founded in 19 ...

. Mir was the chief planner of the

2008 Mumbai attacks The 2008 Mumbai attacks, also referred to as 26/11 attacks, were a series of coordinated Islamic terrorism, Islamist terrorist attacks that took place in November 2008, when 10 members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan-based Islamist terrorist o ...

, and has also managed the tasks of the 'foreign affairs' of Lashkar-e-Taiba's international wing. Sajid Mir was initially claimed to be a fictitious character by Pakistan, but was revealed by French magistrate

Jean-Louis Bruguière Jean-Louis Bruguière (; born 29 May 1943) was the leading French investigating magistrate in charge of counter-terrorism affairs. He was appointed in 2004 vice-president of the Paris Court of Serious Claims ('' Tribunal de Grande Instance''). ...

, in a statement to journalist Sebastian Rotella, as a real person. In 2009, Bruguiere also stated that Sajid Mir was a regular official in the

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ), commonly known as the Pak Army (), is the Land warfare, land service branch and the largest component of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The president of Pakistan is the Commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the army. The ...

. After the 2008 Mumbai attacks, Mir was indicted in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in 2011. He was sanctioned as a

Specially Designated Global Terrorist A Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) is a person or entity that has been designated as such by the United States Department of State or the U.S. Department of the Treasury. An SDGT designation is made under authority of U.S. Executive ...

in the

Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List The Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List, also known as the SDN List, is a United States government sanctions/embargo measure targeting U.S.-designated terrorists, officials and beneficiaries of certain authoritarian regimes, a ...

on 30 August 2012 by the

United States Department of the Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the Treasury, national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States. It is one of 15 current United States federal executive departments, U.S. government departments. ...

Office of Foreign Assets Control The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is a financial intelligence and enforcement agency of the United States Department of the Treasury, United States Treasury Department. It administers and enforces economic and trade economic sanctions, ...

. Mir is listed on the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy of the United State ...

Rewards for Justice Program Rewards for Justice Program (RFJ) is United States Department of State's national security interagency program that offers reward for information leading to the location or an arrest of leaders of terrorist groups, financiers of terrorism, inclu ...

for a reward of up to for information which leads to his arrest. He is also listed on the FBI Most Wanted list and

NIA Most Wanted The Most Wanted is a most wanted list maintained by India's National Investigation Agency (NIA). Individuals usually are removed from the list only when they are captured, die or the charges against them are dropped. History In May 2011, followi ...

list. China has prevented the

United Nations Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...

from designating Mir as a global terrorist under the

Al-Qaeda and Taliban Sanctions Committee The ISIL (Da'esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee is a committee of the United Nations Security Council tasked with implementing international sanctions against the Islamic State and al-Qaeda. It was established as the Al-Qaida and Taliban Sanct ...

. In 2022, an

Anti Terrorism Court of Pakistan The Anti Terrorism Court of Pakistan (, ATC) was established in Pakistan in 1997, under Nawaz Sharif's government, to deal with terrorism cases. 1997 creation and subsequent amendments The court had been created by the 1997 Anti-Terrorist Act ...

convicted him of terror financing and sentenced him to 15 years of imprisonment. In 2023, a proposal by the United States and India to designate him as a global terrorist was blocked by China.

Early life

Sajid Mir was born to a middle-class family in Lahore. His father, Abdulmajid Mir, who runs a textile business, went to Lahore during the

partition of India The partition of India in 1947 was the division of British India into two independent dominion states, the Dominion of India, Union of India and Dominion of Pakistan. The Union of India is today the Republic of India, and the Dominion of Paki ...

. Mir is a son-in-law of a retired officer of the Pakistan Army.

Militancy

Mir was associated with Lashkar-e-Taiba chief

Hafiz Muhammad Saeed Hafiz Muhammad Saeed (born 5 June 1950) is a Pakistani militant and religious preacher convicted of terrorism. He co-founded Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a Pakistan-based Islamist militant organization that is List of designated terrorist groups, de ...

in 1994, and got early access to Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi. With the protection of the

Inter-Services Intelligence The Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) is the premier Pakistani Intelligence community, intelligence agency of Pakistan. It is responsible for gathering, processing, and analyzing any information from around the world that is deemed relevant t ...

(ISI), he also planned terror attacks in the

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

(the latter for the

Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy The Muhammad cartoons controversy (or Muhammad cartoons crisis, ) began after the Danish newspaper published twelve editorial cartoons on 30 September 2005 depicting Muhammad, the founder of Islam, in what it said was a response to the deb ...

Terrorism plot in Australia

Sajid Mir plotted a terrorist attack in Australia in 2003. For the attack plan, Mir recruited Willie Brigitte, a French national who converted to Islam and joined Lashkar-e-Taiba. Willie also funded him to travel to Australia in May 2003. Afterwards, in October 2003, Brigitte was arrested by Sydney police and deported to

, where, in 2007, he was convicted and sentenced to nine years of imprisonment for the charge of 'associating with terrorists', and Sajid Mir was sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment. Willie Brigitte, who used to train Lashkar-e-Taiba members, confessed that Sajid Mir was well known by the Pakistan Army and that Mir never had any problems roaming in the Pakistan Army's areas.

2008 Mumbai attacks

Sajid Mir was the chief plotter of the 2008 Mumbai attacks. To carry out the attack, Mir recruited

David Coleman Headley David Coleman Headley (born Dawood Sayed Gilani; June 30, 1960) is a Pakistani-American Islamic terrorist and the mastermind behind the 2008 Mumbai islamic terrorist attacks. He played a key role in orchestrating the attacks, working with the ...

(Daood Sayed Gilani) and assisted Headley in visiting

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

prior to the attacks. After the terror attack, the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

listed Sajid Mir as a most wanted terrorist for aiding and abetting, bombing places of public use, providing material support to terrorists, injuring foreign government property, killing citizens outside the

, and other terrorist activities. Mir has a bounty of US $5 million, as declared by the FBI. In 2012, Sayed Zabiuddin Ansari revealed in interrogation that Sajid Mir had visited India in 2005 with a fake name and passport under the cricket diplomacy to watch the India-Pakistan ODI Cricket match at

Mohali Mohali, officially Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar or Ajitgarh, is a planned city in the Mohali district in Punjab, India, Punjab, India, which is an administrative and a commercial hub lying south-west of Chandigarh. It is the headquarters of the M ...

. Ansari further revealed that after visiting several places in India, Sajid Mir prepared

Taj Hotel Taj Hotels is a chain of luxury hotels and a subsidiary of the Indian Hotels Company Limited, headquartered in Mumbai, India. Incorporated by Jamsetji Tata in 1902, the company is a part of the Tata Group. The company employed over 20,000 people ...

's miniature model to familiarize the attackers with the hotel. In 2020, India sought the extradition of Sajid Mir, but Pakistan did not respond.

Arrest and conviction

Pakistan earlier denied Mir's presence in their country, and later claimed he was dead, but in 2022, Pakistan arrested him. An anti-terrorism court in Lahore convicted Mir and sentenced him to 15 years of imprisonment with a fine of Pakistani Rs. 4,20,000 in a terror financing case. Pakistan reported to the global terror financing watchdog

Financial Action Task Force The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), also known by its French name, Groupe d'action financière (GAFI), is an intergovernmental organisation founded in 1989 on the initiative of the G7 to develop policies to combat money laundering and to ma ...

(FATF) that they have arrested and convicted Mir and sought removal of Pakistan from the ' Grey list' of the FATF. In December 2023, it was reported that Mir was poisoned in prison.

In popular culture

Sajid Mir was portrayed by

Mir Sarwar Mohammad Sarwar Mir is an Indian actor, who has appeared in Hindi films including '' Kesari'', '' Bajrangi Bhaijaan'', and '' Jolly LLB 2''. Career Born in a Kashmiri family, Sarwar started his career with renowned directors M. K. Raina and ...

in the 2015 Indian film ''Phantom''.

Early life

Militancy

Terrorism plot in Australia

2008 Mumbai attacks

Arrest and conviction

In popular culture

Notes

References

Further reading