In a pre-dawn swoop, National Investigation Agency (NIA) conducted multiple raids in Kashmir valley as part of its continuing investigations into the conspiracy of the newly-floated offshoots of proscribed Pakistan-backed terrorist outfits.
12 locations in the four districts of Kulgam, Shopian and Pulwama in south Kashmir and Bandipora in north were raided as part of today’s crackdown, a spokesperson of the NIA said. The locations were residential premises of hybrid terrorists and overground workers (OGWs) linked with the newly-formed offshoots and affiliates of the banned terrorist outfits.
“Premises of sympathisers and cadres of these organisations were also searched extensively during the raids. Several digital devices containing large volumes of incriminating data have been recovered in these searches,” he said and added these will be subjected to a thorough scrutiny by the agency to unravel the details of the terrorist conspiracy, which NIA started investigating after registering a suo moto case on June 21, 2022.
The newly floated terror outfits being probed by the NIA include The Resistance Front (TRF), United Liberation Front Jammu & Kashmir (ULFJ&K), Mujahideen Gazwat-ul-Hind (MGH), Jammu & Kashmir Freedom Fighters (JKFF), Kashmir Tigers, PAAF and others, the NIA statement said. These outfits are affiliated to Pak-based organisations like Laskhar-e-Toiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM), Al-Badr, Al-Qaeda, etc, which have been banned by the Government of India.
According to the NIA investigations the cadres and workers whose premises were raided are under the NIA’s scanner for their involvement in the collection and distribution of sticky bombs/magnetic bombs, IEDs, funds, narcotic substances and arms/ammunitions. They have been engaged in spreading activities relating to terror, violence and subversion in J&K.
The investigations have revealed that Pak-based operatives were using social media platforms to promote terror, it said. Drones were being used by them to deliver arms/ammunition, explosives, narcotics etc. to their operatives and cadres in Kashmir.
“The terror conspiracy under investigation relates to plotting by the banned outfits in both physical and cyber space to unleash violent terrorist attacks in J&K with sticky bombs, IEDs and small arms etc. The organisations, supported by their masters in Pakistan, have been conspiring to commit acts of terror and violence, by radicalizing local youth and mobilizing overground workers, to disturb peace and communal harmony in J&K,” it added.
Since early 2017, the NIA has carried out hundreds of raids in Kashmir in connection with alleged terror funding, fidayeen (suicide) attack cases and the agency has arrested and questioned dozens of people in the last more than six years.
In recent months, the NIA has widened its net on the banned Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) and conducted raids across Kashmir on members and sympathizers of the politico-religious organisation.