NIA: 12 suspects having links with Pakistani handlers identified

New Delhi, March 15

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday said it had identified 12 suspects having links with Pakistan-based terror handlers as it conducted raids in Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab in connection with its probe into a case relating to conspiracy hatched by the terrorists to radicalise Kasmiri youth.

In June 2022, the agency had registered an FIR suo motu against overground workers (OGWs) and cadres of various banned outfits and their offshoots, which were operating under pseudo names on the commands of their handlers in Pakistan.

Lashkar associate caught in Baramulla

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• A militant associate of the Lashkar-e-Toiba outfit has been arrested in North Kashmir’s Baramulla district, the police said on Wednesday.
• Identified as Ali Mohammad Bhat, a resident of Arampora in Pattan area of Baramulla, the accused was caught carrying as many as 71 live rounds of the AK-47 rifle.
• Noticing him walking suspiciously at a checkpoint in Singhpora area of Pattan, personnel from the police, the SSB and the 29 Rashtriya Rifles nabbed him after he tried to flee the spot. OC

“In follow-up operations last year, searches were conducted at 14 locations in six districts of Jammu and Kashmir, including Srinagar, Baramulla, Pulwama, Anantnag, Budgam and Kathua, and one location in Fatehgarh Sahib, Punjab, on Tuesday,” the National Investigation Agency mentioned in a statement.

It stated digital devices and incriminating material were seized from these locations during the raids, as further investigations are in progress. According to the agency, the case relates to a terror conspiracy hatched by Pakistan-based commanders of banned terrorist organisations to radicalise Kashmiri youth to target members of minority communities, security personnel and religious events or activities.

“The accused were also found involved in spreading terror in Jammu and Kashmir over cyberspace,” it said, adding that 12 suspects were identified during investigations, who had been in touch with different Pakistan-based handlers.