Amarnath attack: Ex-MLA in a spot

Majid Jahangir
Tribune News Service
Srinagar. January 21

A former PDP legislator from Wachi in south Kashmir is under the National Investigation Agency (NIA) scanner over alleged use of one of his vehicles in the 2017 attack on Amarnath pilgrims, killing eight.

The NIA has written to the J&K Police seeking Aijaz Ahmad Mir’s “integrity report” during their investigation into a weapons looting case by a special police officer (SPO) guarding the former PDP MLA in September last.

“It has come to our notice that one of his (Mir’s) vehicles was used in the attack on pilgrims of the Amarnath yatra,” the NIA letter reads.

The police had blamed Lashkar-e-Toiba for the attack and later arrested Mir’s driver for his alleged links with militants. At that time, they had denied his involvement in the attack.

The NIA is now investigating the case in which Mir’s SPO decamped with seven rifles from his residence in Srinagar. The SPO later joined militant ranks. Mir was not in Srinagar at the time.