Foreign Secretary Misri Hands Over TRF Dossier to US, UN Sanctions Committee

India Submits TRF Dossier to US, UN After Pahalgam Massacre; Group Designated Global Terror Outfit.

Nearly a month after the brutal massacre of 26 Hindus in Baisaran, Pahalgam on April 22, India submitted a detailed dossier on The Resistance Front (TRF) to both the US administration and the UN’s 1267 Sanctions Committee. This move directly contributed to the US State Department officially designating the TRF as a global terrorist organization.

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri personally handed over the dossier during his visit to Washington from May 27 to 29. A similar submission was made to the UN committee in New York.

India was notified of the US decision four days prior to the public announcement made on Thursday. The designation underscores the growing counterterrorism convergence between India and the United States. It also serves as a pointed message to Pakistan, signaling that diplomatic gestures—like the recent lunch between Pakistan Army Chief Gen. Asim Munir and President Donald Trump—won’t soften Washington’s stance on terror.

TRF and Its Terror Footprint

TRF, a front for Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), is led by Sheikh Sajjad Gul, also known as Sajjad Ahmed Sheikh—a Kashmiri operative handpicked by Pakistan’s ISI. Under Gul’s leadership, the outfit has carried out a series of attacks across central and south Kashmir from 2020 through 2024, including:

• Multiple grenade attacks in central Kashmir (2023)
• An ambush on J&K Police in Bijbehara (2023)
• Attacks in Gagangir, Z-Morh Tunnel, and Ganderbal (2024)
• The April 2024 Pahalgam massacre

Gul, 50, hails from the HMT area of Srinagar. Educated in Bengaluru and Kerala, he once ran a diagnostic lab in Srinagar before being arrested in Delhi in 2003 with 5 kg of RDX in his possession. Convicted for conspiring to carry out bombings in Delhi, he served a 10-year sentence.

After his release, he fled to Pakistan in 2017 with his family. In 2019, ISI appointed him to lead TRF to provide an “indigenous” face to terrorism in Kashmir following the global backlash Pakistan faced after the Pulwama suicide bombing.

Terror Network and Funding

Gul’s brother, Parvez Ahmed Sheikh, a former doctor at SMHS Hospital in Srinagar, has also been linked to terror financing and hawala networks operating from the Gulf. Parvez moved to Pakistan via Saudi Arabia and reportedly collaborates with Indian fugitives to channel funds to terror groups.

In 2022, Sajjad Gul was designated a terrorist under India’s Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

Despite TRF’s attempts to appear as a homegrown outfit, the group remains a well-crafted proxy of LeT and ISI—conceived to deflect international scrutiny from Pakistan’s role in cross-border terrorism.