NIA crackdown in J&K against new terror offshoots
By Our Special Correspondent
New Delhi, June 26: The Centre on Monday said that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) conducted a series of raids across four districts in the Kashmir valley as part of its investigations into the conspiracy of the newly-floated offshoots of proscribed Pakistan-backed terrorist outfits to destabilise the Union Territory.
“Twelve locations in the four districts of Kulgam, Bandipora, Shopian and Pulwama were raided as part of today’s crackdown. The locations were residential premises of hybrid terrorists and overground workers 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 in the raids,” said the government in a statement.
Several digital devices containing large volumes of incriminating data have been recovered by NIA in these searches. “These will be subjected to a thorough scrutiny by the agency to unravel the details of the terrorist conspiracy, which NIA started investigating a year ago after registering a suo moto case (RC-05/2022/NIA/JMU) on 21st June 2022,” added the government in the statement.
The newly floated terror outfits being probed by 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. “These outfits are affiliated to Pak-backed 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,” added the statement.
The cadres and workers whose premises were raided are under the NIA’s scanner for their alleged 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, according to the NIA investigations.
“Investigations have revealed that Pakistan-based operatives were using social media platforms to promote terror. Drones were being used by them to deliver arms/ammunition, explosives, narcotics etc. to their operatives and cadres in the Kashmir valley,” added the statement.
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,” stated the government in its statement.
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