Anti-Terror Agency Raids 8 Locations In J&K In Terror Conspiracy Case

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday carried out raids at several locations across Jammu and Kashmir in connection with the terror conspiracy hatched and operationalised by offshoots of the banned Pakistan-backed terrorist organisations, the investigating agency said.

The searches led to the seizure of several digital devices containing large volumes of incriminating data and documents, it said.

The NIA raided “several locations across Jammu and Kashmir in connection with the terror conspiracy hatched and operationalised by the offshoots of the banned Pakistan-backed terrorist organisations, such as Laskhar-e-Toiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM), Al-Badr, Al-Qaeda, etc”, the agency said in a release.

Teams of NIA cracked down on eight locations in the seven districts of Poonch, Shopian, Pulwama, Baramulla, Ganderbal, Kupwara and Srinagar of the Union Territory of J&K, it said.

The locations raided today were residential premises of hybrid terrorists and Overground Workers (OGWs) associated with the newly-formed affiliates and offshoots of the banned terrorist outfits, it added.

“Extensive searches were also conducted at the premises of the cadres and sympathisers of these newly floated organisations, which included The Resistance Front (TRF), United Liberation Front Jammu & Kashmir (ULFJ&K), Mujahideen Gazwat-ul-Hind (MGH), Jammu & Kashmir Freedom Fighters (JKFF), Kashmir Tigers, PAAF, among others,” the NIA said.

The searches led to the seizure of several digital devices containing large volumes of incriminating data and documents by the NIA, which has been investigating the conspiracy of the recently launched offshoots of the banned terror outfits to destabilize J&K through violent terrorist attacks and activities, the agency added.

NIA had registered the case (RC-05/2022/NIA/JMU) suo moto on 21 June 2022 to probe the involvement of the cadres, OGWs and other suspects of the new outfits in the collection and distribution of sticky and magnetic bombs, IEDs, funds, narcotic substances and arms/ammunition to spread terror, violence and subversion in J-K.

NIA investigations so far have revealed that Pak-based operatives were using social media platforms to promote terror, and were also using drones to deliver arms and ammunition, explosives and narcotics to their operatives and cadres in the Kashmir valley.

These activities were “being carried out as part of the terror conspiracy hatched by the banned outfits, backed by their masters in Pakistan. The conspiracy also involved radicalisation of local youth and mobilisation of OGWs to carry out violent and disruptive activities in J-K”, the agency said.