NIA seeks setting up of an independent office in Jammu

Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Sept 1: In yet another arrest in August 5 terror attack at Narsu, Samroli in Udhampur district on Jammu-Srinagar National Highway, the National Investigating Agency (NIA) today booked an alleged Over Ground worker of banned Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) outfit who had transported four terrorists from one place in Kashmir to another after they infiltrated into the Valley.
NIA took custody of Showkat Ahmed Bhat, a resident of Pulwama after he was detained by Jammu and Kashmir police.
NIA said 36-year-old Bhat was allegedly involved in transporting a group of four LeT terrorists Mohammad Naved Yakub, Zhargham alias Mohammed Bhai, Abu Okasa and Noman from Baba Reshi in Baramulla district to south Kashmir soon after they infiltrated into India from Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK).
The group split into two. One group attacked BSF convoy in Udhampur on August 5, during which Naved was arrested and his associate Mohammed Noman alias Momin was killed.
Showkat will be produced before the Special NIA Judge, Jammu for obtaining his custody for further investigation.
Naved has given his confessional statement before a judge in Jammu while Khursheed would be produced soon with a request to shift him to Delhi for scientific investigations including a lie detector test.
With Jammu and Kashmir being the hub of terror activities, the NIA has set up camp offices at four places in the State and wants to establish a permanent base there for more effective monitoring of cases that take place in the region.
The NIA, which was set up after the 2008 Mumbai attacks specifically for probing terror cases, has given a proposal to the Home Ministry for setting up a permanent office in Jammu from where it can monitor terror related cases in entire North India, official sources said.
The agency feels that Jammu was the central point from where officials could be deputed to Kashmir and areas like Doda, Kishtwar, Udhampur in the State, the sources said.
The proposed office will also be able to cover neighbouring Himachal Pradesh and Punjab, which witnessed a terror incident at Gurdaspur in the last week of July that left eight people including a Superintendent of Police dead, they said.
The agency, in the meantime, has opened four camp offices at Jammu, Udhampur, Anantnag and Srinagar in connection with its probe of LeT terrorist Mohammed Naved Yakub, who was nabbed by public and handed over to police after the August 5 terror strike on a BSF convoy in Udhampur.
NIA officials are now a part of a joint probe team which questions militants who have been apprehended across the country.
Recently, a team of NIA officials questioned Sajjad Ahmed, a Lashkar-e-Toiba militant who was nabbed by the Army alive at the Line of Control in Rafiabad, on August 29.
These questionings help the NIA officials to be updated about the terror activities across the border in Pakistan, the sources said.
NIA has over-riding powers to probe any case which involves a terrorist action or hijacking.
According to the section 6 (i)(5) “…If the Central Government is of the opinion that a Scheduled Offence has been committed which is required to be investigated under this Act, it may, suo moto, direct the Agency to investigate the said offence.”

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