As part of its ongoing investigations in the Jammu & Kashmir terrorist conspiracy case, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on July 13 conducted another round of raids at the premises of hybrid terrorists and Overground Workers (OGWs) of the outfits and affiliates of Pakistan-backed banned terrorist organisations.
Raids were conducted at five locations in Jammu & Kashmir’s Shopian, Awantipora and Pulwama districts.
The places searched include the premises of sympathisers and cadres of the newly floated outfits, namely 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.
These outfits are affiliated with various banned Pakistan-backed organisations like Laskhar-e-Toiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM), Al-Badr and Al-Qaeda.
Some of these newly-floated outfits, The Resistance Front (TRF), a shadow organisation of Lashkar-e-Taiba, have been found issuing threats of carrying out attacks in Jammu & Kashmir over social media, the NIA official said.
Several digital devices containing large volumes of incriminating data were recovered by the NIA during the searches, which have once again put the spotlight on OGWs as an important part of the terror ecosystem in the Valley, which is being dismantled on a continuous basis.
Also known as hybrid terrorists, the anti-terror agency said, the OGWs provide support to militants and terrorists based in Pakistan.
The NIA had registered a suo moto case on June 21 last year to investigate the involvement of the cadres and OGWs of the various outfits in spreading activities relating to terror, violence and subversion in Jammu & Kashmir.
“These cadres and workers have been involved in the collection and distribution of sticky bombs, magnetic bombs, Improvised Explosive Devices, funds, narcotic substances and arms and ammunitions.”
The NIA investigations have revealed that Pak-based operatives were using social media platforms to promote terror.
“Drones were being used by them to deliver arms and ammunition, explosives and narcotics to their operatives and cadres in the Kashmir valley,” the NIA said.
The terror conspiracy relates to plotting by the banned outfits in both physical and cyberspace to unleash violent terrorist attacks in Jammu & Kashmir with sticky bombs, IEDs and small arms.
“The organisations, supported by their masters in Pakistan, have been conspiring to commit acts of terror and violence, by radicalising local youth and mobilising overground workers, to disturb peace and communal harmony in Jammu & Kashmir,” the agency added.
On May 21, the NIA also arrested Kashmir-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) operative for his involvement in a terror conspiracy case in Jammu & Kashmir.
NIA also arrested Mohd Ubaid Malik, a resident of Kupwara district in Kashmir, based on inputs that he was in constant touch with a Pakistan-based JeM Commander.
The arrest was conducted as part of the crackdown by the NIA against the conspiracies being hatched by proscribed terrorist organisations based across the border to destabilise India through terrorist attacks in Jammu & Kashmir.
Earlier on May 2 last year, the NIA had carried out searches at 12 locations in Jammu & Kashmir. The places searched then included 11 in the Kashmir valley (eight in Pulwama district and one each in Kulgam, Anantnag and Budgam districts), and one Poonch in Jammu.
The case was related to the hatching of a conspiracy, both physical and in cyberspace, and plans by proscribed terrorist organisations to execute violent terrorist attacks in Jammu & Kashmir with sticky bombs, Improvised Explosive Devices and small arms.
The NIA had conducted multiple similar searches in the terror conspiracy case at 14 locations in Jammu & Kashmir on June 24 last year. The searches were in the districts of Srinagar, Baramulla, Pulwama, Anantnag Budgam and Kathua, which had led to the seizure of incriminating material and digital devices.
