The National Investigation Agency (NIA) logo.
Credit: PTI File Photo
Srinagar: The National Investigation Agency (NIA), on Thursday, conducted raids across Jammu and Kashmir as part of an ongoing investigation into a conspiracy by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) terror outfit to radicalise youth in India, officials said.
Raids were also conducted in other states as well. In Jammu and Kashmir, the raids began early in the morning, in Anantnag’s Bamboo Mattan area, Kreeri in Baramulla, Khansahib in Budgam and in Reasi, Jammu.
A spokesperson of the NIA said searches were conducted at 19 locations in eight states across the country in a Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terror conspiracy case.
“Several incriminating documents, electronic devices including mobile phones, pen drives, CDs, hard disks etc. were seized during the searches carried out at multiple locations in the states of Assam, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, J&K, Rajasthan and Gujarat,” he said.
The searches, relating to the case RC-13/2024/NIA/DLI, were conducted at the premises of suspects/close aides of an accused Sheikh Sultan Salah Uddin Ayubi @Ayubi, a Jaish-e-Mohammad operative who was arrested on account of his incriminatory role in the case, the spokesperson said .
Ayubi was taken into custody in October this year for “disseminating propaganda material associated with JeM, and radicalising and recruiting youth into the Jamaat outfit inspired by JeM.”
The NIA spokesperson said no arrest has been made in today's searches so far and “the news being carried by few media houses is incorrect and is denied.”
This is not the first time the NIA has intensified its operations in Jammu and Kashmir. Since 2017, the premier anti-terror probe agency has ramped up its actions in Jammu and Kashmir. The crackdown includes probing terror attacks, narco-terrorism, terror funding, and cross-border smuggling networks.
The NIA operations in Jammu and Kashmir have unearthed links of cross border and international networks involved in narco-terror. These operations have helped stem the flow of narcotics into Kashmir.