Shopian (Jammu and Kashmir): The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday conducted raids at 13 locations in Jammu & Kashmir on the sympathisers and cadres, hybrid terrorists and Overground Workers (OGWs) linked with the newly-formed offshoots and affiliates of several proscribed Pakistan-backed terror organisations, including Laskhar-e-Toiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM), Al-Badr and Al-Qaeda in connection with terror funding.
The agency conducted a series of raids in the Anantnag, Srinagar, Pulwama, Shopian and Budgam districts of Kashmir, and seized incriminating material, and documents. An NIA official said that the raids were part of the ongoing investigations of NIA in the terror conspiracy case, involving the activities of OGWs and cadres in support of various newly-launched outfits, such as The Resistance Front (TRF), United Liberation Front Jammu & Kashmir (ULFJ&K), Mujahideen Gazwat-ul-Hind (MGH), Jammu & Kashmir Freedom Fighters (JKFF), Kashmir Tigers, PAAF, among others.
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Besides terrorist and violent activities, these cadres and workers had been found involved in the collection and distribution of sticky bombs/magnetic bombs, IEDs, funds, narcotics and arms/ammunition. NIA investigations revealed that Pakistan-based operatives were involved in the delivery of arms and ammunition, explosives and narcotics to these cadres and workers in the Kashmir Valley via drones. Social media platforms were also being widely used by operatives across the border to connect with OGWs and cadres in Kashmir.
NIA registered the case (RC-05/2022/NIA/JMU) suo motu on June 21, 2022. The matter related to conspiracy and plans, hatched physically as well in cyberspace, by these proscribed terrorist organisations. The conspirators aimed at unleashing violent terrorist attacks in Jammu & Kashmir with sticky bombs, IEDs and small arms as part of a larger conspiracy to commit acts of terror and violence by radicalising local youth and mobilising and deploying Overground Workers. In connection with the investigation of the case, since the beginning of this month, NIA has conducted more than 70 searches in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
