Dhangri terror attack case: NIA raids LeT workers’ premises in Poonch
The attack had left seven Hindus of the minority community dead that included a four-year-old boy and a 16-year-old girl besides leaving several seriously injured
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Saturday conducted raids at the premises of several suspects in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir in connection with the Lashkar-e- Taiba’s (LeT) attack in Dhangri village of Rajouri district on January 1 and 2 this year.
The attack had left seven Hindus of the minority community dead that included a four-year-old boy and a 16-year-old girl besides leaving several seriously injured.
“Raids were conducted today at five locations across Gursai village of Mendhar tehsil of Poonch district. NIA teams made extensive searches at the locations, which were the residential premises of overground workers (OGWs) linked with LeT, a proscribed terrorist outfit,” said an official spokesperson of the NIA.
Several digital devices and documents, containing incriminating data and content, have been seized and are being scrutinised for unravelling the conspiracy, he added.
“Two accused, Nisar Ahmed alias Haji Nisar and Mushtaq Hussain, were arrested by the NIA in the case on August 31 this year in the instant case. They are currently lodged in Central Jail, Kot Bhalwal on the outskirts of Jammu. Disclosures made by these two men, along with inputs gathered by the NIA, led to today’s raids”, he said.
NIA investigations have revealed that both the arrested accused had harboured the terrorists, who had carried out the deadly attack in Dhangri in Rajouri district.
“They had provided logistics support to the terrorists for more than two months and had sheltered them in a hideout that they had built. The duo, as per the investigations, had been operating on the directions of Pakistan-based LeT handlers, namely Saifullah alias Sajid Jutt, Abu Qatal alias Qatal Sindhi and Mohammad Qasim,” he said.
The attack case was initially registered as FIR number 01/2023 at Rajouri police station under Sections 302, 307, 120-B, 452 and 323 of the Indian Penal Code, and Sections 13,16,18 of the UA (P) Act 1967, and Sections 7/27 of the Arms Act.
NIA, which had taken over the investigations and re-registered the case on January 13, is carrying out further investigations.
