Hybrid militants distributing sticky bombs, IEDs
Cadre of Al-Qaeda, LeT, JeM offshoots targeted
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, May 9: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) today targeted newly floated militant groups in Jammu and Kashmir which are working as offshoots of major outfits like Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) among others by carrying out raids at 16 locations including 12 in the Kashmir valley and four in the Jammu division.
click here to watch video
In Jammu division, the NIA searched house of a College Professor at Darhal in Rajouri district, two houses of a Government teacher in Kishtwar and house and shop of an Uttar Pradesh youth running a salon in Poonch town.
This was second round of raids by the NIA in Jammu and Kashmir which came exactly after a week as in the first round on May 2, the NIA had raided 12 locations in the Union Territory in terror conspiracy case and seized incriminating material and digital devices.
Newly floated terror outfits whose cadre were raided by the NIA during day-long raids in Jammu and Kashmir include The Resistance Front (TRF), United Liberation Front Jammu & Kashmir (UL J&K), Mujahideen Gazwat-ul-Hind (MGH), Jammu and Kashmir Freedom Fighters (JKFF), Kashmir Tigers and People’s Anti-Fascist Front (PAAF) among others.
These outfits are linked to Lashkar-e-Toiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed, Hizbul Mujahideen, Al Badr and Al-Qaeda etc.
In Jammu division, the NIA raided the house of Professor Taseem Malik at Darhal, posted in Post Graduate College Rajouri. The NIA teams were looking for an App installed in mobile telephone of the Professor.
Sources said the College Professor was not present in the house and has been asked to appear before the NIA office in Jammu.
The NIA also carried out raids in the rented house and salon where Mohsin Mansoor son of Mohammad Shafiq, a resident of Uttar Pradesh, presently putting up at Mohalla Shankar Nagar was working at Horticulture Chowk in Poonch district. He has been detained for questioning.
Mansoor had taken room on rent in the house of Abdul Qayoom and was working in salon. His rented house and salon were searched by the NIA teams during which three mobile telephones were seized and taken away by the agency for examination of Call Details Record and other data.
In Kishtwar district, the NIA teams searched house of Mushtaq Ahmad Wani son of Ghulam Mohammad Wani at Sewa Chatroo and his tented residence at Mailpeth. He is a Government teacher posted under Rehbar-e-Taleem (ReT) Scheme.
Meanwhile, in Kulgam, the NIA detained Rauf Sheikh brother-in-law of former TRF chief Abbas Sheikh who was killed in a gun battle in Srinagar in 2021. Sheikh was picked up during the raid and was later released. Raids were also conducted in Anantnag, Budgam, Shopian, Kulgam and Baramulla districts of Kashmir.
An official statement issued by the NIA said it has found the role of hybrid militants and Over Ground Workers (OWGs) linked with the newly-formed offshoots and affiliates of several major banned Pak-backed terror outfits in collection and distribution of sticky bombs or magnetic bombs in Jammu and Kashmir.
“These cadres and workers are also found to be engaged in the collection and distribution of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), cash, drugs and small weapons, as well as in spreading activities relating to terror, violence and subversion in Jammu and Kashmir,” a statement issued by the NIA after today’s simultaneous raids said.
“Investigations have further revealed that Pak-based operatives were using drones to deliver weapons, bombs and drugs to their operatives and cadres in the Kashmir valley,” the statement said.
The NIA conducted extensive raids at 16 locations (12 in the Kashmir valley and four in Jammu division), in its ongoing investigations into the activities of OGWs and cadres in support of these new terror outfits.
On May 2, the NIA had conducted raids at 12 locations in Jammu and Kashmir leading to the seizure of incriminating material and digital devices in the terror conspiracy case which it had registered suo moto on June 21, 2022.
The case is related to the hatching of a conspiracy, both physical and cyber space and plans by the proscribed terrorist organizations to unleash violent terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir.
PAAF, whose carder were raided today, had claimed responsibility of twin terror attacks on Army at Bhatta Durrian in Mendhar tehsil of Poonch district and Kandi forests in Rajouri district on April 20 and May 5 respectively in which five Army soldiers each sacrificed their lives while two others were injured.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
