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NIA takes custody of suspect in J&K arms case
Jammu and Kashmir police had busted at least three terror modules in Rajouri and Jammu districts, which had allegedly received several consignments of rifles, grenades, explosive material and bullets through drones.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has taken custody of Faisal Muneer, a key suspect in the conspiracy to drop arms, ammunition and explosives in Jammu and Kashmir using drones at the behest of Pakistan based handlers, people familiar with the development said on Saturday.
Muneer, a resident of Jammu, “was questioned about the larger conspiracy, his associates in the Valley, route taken for sending drones from Pakistan occupied Kashmir (POK), as well as about a handler across the border, who works for Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Al-Badr and coordinates drone droppings,” said a counterterrorism officer, who didn’t want to be named.
Muneer was taken into NIA custody on January 3 and will be questioned till Sunday.
Jammu and Kashmir police had busted at least three terror modules in Rajouri and Jammu districts, which had allegedly received several consignments of rifles, grenades, explosive material and bullets through drones.
Agencies suspect that Muneer was providing logistical and financial support to collect the payloads dropped through drones in J&K and was in regular touch with operatives based in Pakistan in at least one of the modules.
The federal anti-terror probe agency is investigating half a dozen cases in J&K and Punjab related to drone use by terror outfits as well as Khalistani separatists to drop payloads in India for terrorist activities.
Indian border guards have noticed at least 300 drone intrusions in 2022 alone, almost three times more than in 2021, when 97 drone intrusions were recorded, according to Border Security Force data.
In most cases, it was found that low-cost drones, mostly procured from China and assembled in Pakistan, were crossing over to drop weapons and military grade explosive RDX, detonators, grenades, assembled and semi-assembled improvised explosive devices (IEDs) such as tiffin and sticky bombs, besides drugs, fake currency. etc.
“Banned outfits such as LeT, its offshoot The Resistance Front (TRF), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) as well as Khalistani outfits backed by Pakistani spy agency ISI are continuously using these drones to create unrest in the region. The areas preferred to send drones are Rajouri, Jammu, Kathua, R S Pura, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Gurdaspur, etc,” said a second counterterrorism official, who declined being named.
Union home minister Amit Shah, in multiple meetings last year, has asked the agencies to ensure anti-drone measures are effective and overground worker networks who collect the payloads are unearthed and apprehended.
