Masood’s aide Iqbal among two chargesheeted by NIA

Samaan Lateef

Srinagar, November 15

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) filed a chargesheet on Wednesday against two individuals involved in a terror conspiracy case aimed at disrupting the peace and communal harmony in Jammu and Kashmir.

The accused include a resident of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and a close associate of Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Maulana Masood Azhar Alvi.

The chargesheet has been filed against Mohammad Ubaid Malik, a resident of Kupwara in Jammu and Kashmir, and Muhammad Dilawar Iqbal, alias Maaz Khan Kashmiri, alias Maaz Khan, alias Maaz Kashmiri, alias Azad Kashmiri, a resident of Abbaspur in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

According to a statement released by the NIA, both were involved in a criminal conspiracy to carry out terrorist activities in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. Their plan included launching attacks on security forces and individuals they referred to as outsiders.

Dilawar, described as a close associate of JeM chief Masood Azhar, played a significant role in motivating Kashmiri youth as part of a larger conspiracy orchestrated by proscribed terrorist organisations and their affiliates. Their aim was to carry foward terrorist activities in the region, the NIA said.

The NIA investigation revealed that Dilawar had been responsible for radicalising Ubaid and convincing him to join the militant ranks. He would share inflammatory audio clips, videos and images of Maulana Masood Azhar Alvi, propagating radical Islam and inciting youth with a history of militancy to engage in Jihad. Additionally, he would send videos of encounters in the Kashmir valley, provoking young individuals to pick arms.

Both have been charged under Sections 120B and 121A of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 18, 18B, 20 and 38 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

On June 21 last year, the NIA had registered the terror conspiracy case. It revolves around a plot devised by terrorist organisations to carry out attacks in J&K using sticky bombs, improvised explosive devices (IEDs), small arms and other methods. The plan involved radicalisation of local youth and the mobilisation of overground workers associated with newly formed terrorist groups, like The Resistance Front (TRF), United Liberation Front Jammu & Kashmir (ULFJ&K), Mujahideen Gazwat-ul-Hind, Jammu & Kashmir Freedom Fighters (JKFF), Kashmir Tigers, PAAF and others.

These organisations have affiliations with proscribed terrorist outfits such as Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM), Al-Badr, Al-Qaeda and others.

The NIA stated that investigations were ongoing with the agency working tirelessly to uncover the broader conspiracy of these terrorist organisations to revive terrorism and disrupt the peace and communal harmony in the Union Territory of J&K.

Terror case: One of ultras from Kupwara

• n One of the accused, Mohammad Ubaid Malik, is a resident of Kupwara while Muhammad Dilawar Iqbal hails from Abbaspur in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Iqbal is said to be very close to Masood Azhar.
• n The NIA says their plan included launching attacks on security men and others they referred to as outsiders. They also radicalised youth.