Pak Increases Bounty On Jaish Chief Masood Azhar Weeks Ahead Of FATF Meet

Pakistan has increased the bounty for information leading to the arrest of Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar to 7 million Pakistani rupees or Rs 24.09 lakh in Indian currency, while the country's Federal Investigation Agency continues to list him among its most-wanted terrorists.

Islamabad has for years maintained that Azhar is not in Pakistan and has claimed that he fled to Afghanistan. Yet his name remains in the FIA's official records, including its 2026 "Red Book of Most Wanted High-Profile Terrorists".

Azhar, 58, is the founder and chief of JeM, a Pakistan-based terrorist organisation that has been accused of carrying out some of the most serious attacks against India over the past two decades. The terror group operates from Pakistan, with its base traditionally associated with Bahawalpur, one of the sites heabily bombarded by India during Operation Sindoor.

Azhar has been designated an international terrorist by the United Nations Security Council.

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is scheduled to hold its October 2026 plenary meeting in Paris from October 26 to 30. The organisation's meetings include reviews of countries facing enhanced monitoring and other issues concerning terrorist financing and money laundering.

Azhar has long occupied a prominent place in India's account of cross-border terrorism. His terror organisation has been linked to attacks including the 2001 Parliament attack, the 2008 Mumbai attacks, the 2016 Pathankot airbase attack and the 2019 Pulwama bombing.

His name has also resurfaced following the November 10 blast near Delhi's Red Fort in 2025.

Who Is Masood Azhar?

Masood Azhar was once in Indian custody but he was released after the hijacking of Indian Airlines flight IC-814 in December 1999. Five terrorists hijacked the aircraft while it was flying from Kathmandu to Delhi.

The aircraft was then diverted through Amritsar, Lahore and Dubai before eventually being taken to Kandahar in Afghanistan, which was then under Taliban control. After a prolonged hostage crisis, India agreed to release Azhar and two other jailed terrorists in exchange for the passengers. After his release, he founded Jaish-e-Mohammed around 1999-2000. 

Azhar survived Operation Sindoor, but members of his family were killed during the offensive. On May 7, India launched strikes against nine sites harbouring terrorist infrastructure following the Pahalgam terror attack.

At least 10 members of Azhar's family were reported killed in the strikes. Four of his aides were also reported to have died.

Those killed included Azhar's elder sister, her husband, a nephew, the nephew's wife, a niece and five children from the extended family.