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Terror case: NIA raids five locations in Kashmir
The agency said as a part of its ongoing investigations in the ‘Jammu and Kashmir terrorist conspiracy case’, it conducted another round of raids on the premises of hybrid militants and overground workers (OGWs) of the outfits and affiliates of Pakistan-backed banned militant organisation
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday continued raids in south Kashmir and searched five locations in the 2022 militant conspiracy case, two days after five places were raided.
The agency said as a part of its ongoing investigations in the ‘Jammu and Kashmir terrorist conspiracy case’, it conducted another round of raids on the premises of hybrid militants and overground workers (OGWs) of the outfits and affiliates of Pakistan-backed banned militant organisations.
“Raids were conducted on Thursday at five locations in three police districts of Shopian, Awantipora and Pulwama,” said the agency in a statement.
The NIA also raided the premises of alleged sympathisers and cadres of the newly-floated outfits, namely The Resistance Front (TRF), United Liberation Front Jammu & Kashmir (ULFJ&K), Mujahideen Gazwat-ul-Hind (MGH), Jammu & Kashmir Freedom Fighters (JKFF), Kashmir Tigers, PAAF and others.
The agency said these outfits are affiliated to various banned Pak-backed organisations such as Laskhar-e-Toiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM), Al-Badr, Al-Qaeda, etc.
“Some of these newly-floated outfits, The Resistance Front (TRF), a shadow organisation of Lashkar-e-Taiba, have been found issuing threats of carrying out attacks in J&K over the social media,” it said.
The NIA stated that several digital devices containing large volumes of ‘incriminating data’ were recovered by them during the searches. “These have once again put the spotlight on OGWs as an important part of the terror ecosystem in the Valley, which is being dismantled on a continuous basis. Also known as hybrid terrorists, they provide support to militants and terrorists based in Pakistan,” it said.
The NIA had registered a suo moto case, on June 21, 2022 to investigate the involvement of the cadres and OGWs of the various outfits in spreading activities relating to ‘terror, violence and subversion’ in J&K.
“These cadres and workers have been involved in the collection and distribution of sticky bombs, magnetic bombs, IEDs, funds, narcotic substances and arms and ammunition. NIA investigations have revealed that Pak-based operatives were using social media platforms to promote terror. Drones were being used by them to deliver arms and ammunition, explosives, narcotics etc. to their operatives and cadres in Kashmir,” the agency claimed.
The alleged conspiracy relates to plotting by the banned outfits in both physical and cyber space to unleash violent militant attacks in J&K with sticky bombs, IEDs and small arms etc. “The organisations, supported by their masters in Pakistan, have been conspiring to commit acts of terror and violence, by radicalising local youth and mobilising overground workers, to disturb peace and communal harmony in J&K,” it said.
On Tuesday, the NIA had raided five different locations in three districts of south Kashmir viz Anantnag, Shopian and Pulwama regarding the case.
