In a significant step against terrorists operating from Pakistan, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has attached the Srinagar property of Mushtaq Zargar alias Latram, who was released along with Masood Azhar, the notorious Jaish-e-Mohammed chief, in exchange of passengers of the hijacked Indian Airlines flight 814 (IC 814) at Kandahar in1999.
Zargar’s two Marlas house (Khasra No. 182) at Ganai Mohalla, Jamia Masjid, Nowhatta, Srinagar, has been attached under the provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, the NIA said in a statement.
Rubaiya Sayeed, the daughter of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, a former Union Home Minister, was taken in 1989 by Mushtaq Zargar.
“The procedure was carried out today by a team of NIA along with the representative of district administration and local police,” said the Central anti-terror agency.
According to the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Mushtaq Zargar is a ‘Designated Individual Terrorist’. After his release, he has been working out of Pakistan and funding terror activities in the Valley.
Mushtaq Zargar carried out multiple terrorist attacks in Jammu and Kashmir while he was a member of the Jammu & Kashmir Liberation Front in the past.
He has also been involved in other heinous crimes, including murders, and is closely associated with different terror outfits such as Al-Qaeda and JeM.
Growing up in Srinagar’s Nowhatta area, Zargar joined the JKLF. He was one of the members who kidnapped Rubaiya Sayeed in 1989 and arranged for her release in exchange for the release of five terrorists. He was detained on May 15, 1992, and was released from jail on December 31, 1999, as part of the Indian Airlines Flight 814 hostage exchange deal.
