NIA raids Central Jail Srinagar; seizes mobiles, Pak flags

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday raided Central Jail Srinagar and recovered more than two dozen mobile phones, incriminating documents, a Pakistani flag and jihadi literature.
 
Sources said the central probe agency with the help of NSG commandos searched the barracks and open grounds of the high-security prison that houses some of the most wanted and dreaded militants, including those from Pakistan. The NIA sleuths also used drones during the search to keep a close watch on the entire operation, they said.
 
Besides 25 mobile phones, several SIM cards, SD cards, pen drives, one iPod and a large number of incriminating documents/articles, including a poster of Hizbul Mujahideen and a Pakistani flag, were seized during the raid. The searches were carried out in the presence of magistrates, witnesses and doctors, sources said.
 
"The search was carried out in connection with investigation of NIA case RC 07/2018/NIA/DLI (Arrest of Danish Gulam Lone and Sohail Ahmed Bhat by Kupwara Police) in which it was found that fresh recruits of Al-Badr, a proscribed militant organisation, were being sent across for arms training in furtherance of a conspiracy hatched from inside the Central Jail Srinagar," an official spokesman said.
 
He said the searches started early morning and continued till late afternoon. "All the barracks and the open grounds were thoroughly searched with the help of well-trained teams and deep search metal detectors. A close watch on the entire operation was kept with the help of drones," he added.
 
The Srinagar Central Jail attracted the attention of the security agencies after Lashker-e-Taiba commander Naveed Jatt alias Abu Hunzullah, who was lodged there, escaped from a hospital while being taken for medical check up on February 6. 

Shocking revelation
Two policemen were killed by the militants at Srinagar's S M H S Hospital when Hunzullah was freed. Months before Hunzullah escaped, Jammu and Kashmir CID had termed Srinagar Jail as a hub for recruiting militants with inmates establishing a "parallel administrative set up."
 
In a shocking revelation, the CID report mentioned that the role of the jail is so important that every new militant is recruited only after 'approval' from inside the prison. "The Jail has an 'Ameer-e-Zindaan' (prison chief), who is appointed by a 'Shura' (council) for a period of six months. However, as to who gives such an approval is being ascertained," the report prepared last year by former director general of prisons S K Mishra, mentions.
 
Immediately after Hunzullah's escape, prisoners who fall in "higher and high risk" category were shifted secretly to various prisons in Jammu region, including Udhampur, Kotbalwal and Hiranagar.