NIA probes source of funding for Pakistan based Lashkar-e-Mustafa

The NIA is investigating the source of funding for the Pakistan based new militant outfit Lashkar-e-Mustafa (LeM) which was formed by Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) in August-September 2020 to evade international pressure in the wake of 2019 Pulwama terror attack

New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is investigating the source of funding for the Pakistan based new militant outfit Lashkar-e-Mustafa (LeM) which was formed by Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) in August-September 2020 to evade international pressure in the wake of 2019 Pulwama terror attack.

A senior official in NIA told ETV Bharat that the investigating team is looking into the source of funding for LeM. “Money trail is being investigated and it cannot be disclosed at present,” the official said.

The agency is also probing the role of Mufti Rouf, brother of Maulana Masood Azhar into LeM.

In a recent charge sheet filed by NIA, it was stated that LeM India chief Hidayat Ullah Malik aka Hasnain was regularly in touch with terror leader Abu Talha aka Doctor through Pakistani mobile number and Mufti Rouf brother of Maulana Masood Azhar and Ashaq Ahmed Nengroo through WhatsApp during the Pulwama terror attack.

The NIA in its charge sheet claimed that Malik aka Hasnain was further directed by commanders of the JeM that he had to commit terrorist activities in Jammu and Kashmir including in the Jammu region.

It may be mentioned here that following the Pulwama terror attack, the proscribed terrorist organisation (JeM) had come on the radar of the international community.

The NIA had registered a case on February 6 this year in connection with the conspiracy hatched by LeM and its chief, Malik, who recce the office of National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval.

Meanwhile, NIA official said that Maulana Yusuf, an accused in the Burdwan bomb blasts incident, was running a Madrasa in West Bengal’s Burdwan district.