NIA chargesheets three persons in Jhajjar Kotli case

Tribune News Service

Jammu, March 10

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) filed a chargesheet on Saturday against three persons in the Jhajjar Kotli terror case. The incident brought to the fore the Jaish-e-Mohammad plan to infiltrate terrorists into India.

The chargesheet has been filed against three accused, out of whom two are already in NIA custody and one is absconding.

Giving details, an NIA spokesman said the three accused were hardcore overground workers (OGWs) of the JeM and were involved in providing transport and shelter to terrorists on the directions of Pakistan-based leadership of the group.

The accused who are in NIA’s custody are Muhammad Iqbal Rather, a BSc student who is a resident of Futlipora, and Riyaz Ahmed Nengroo, a trucker from Hajin Bala, Pulwama. Ashaq Ahmed Nengroo, brother of Riyaz, is absconding.

The Jhajjar Kotli incident occurred on September 12, 2018 when a truck, carrying three JeM militants towards Kashmir, was intercepted by the police and militants fled from the spot towards a forest. On the next day, all three terrorists were gunned down.

The NIA spokesman said the investigation unveiled a larger conspiracy of the JeM to illegally send armed and trained terrorists to India using the services of a network of OGWs.

He said JeM terrorists were infiltrating through the International Border in the Kathua-Samba sector in Jammu. “It was not an isolated incident, but a part of a series of infiltrations that happened over the years along the belt from October 23, 2017, up to September 12, 2018. A total of seven such incidents had taken place,” he added.