Pak-backed TRF recruiting local youths in J&K, says NIA

The involvement of TRF with terror activities came to the fore following a grenade attack on CRPF men at the Lal Chowk area of Srinagar in February last year. TRF also took the responsibility of killing three BJP leaders in Kulgam in J&K in October last year.

New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has said that Pakistan backed 'The Resistance Front' (TRF) has been desperately trying to create terror in J&K and destabilise the administration. What has further worried the security agencies is the fact that TRF is trying to recruit local youths of J&K.

"TRF is mainly backed by Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and it has been assigned with the responsibility to create terror activities in Jammu and Kashmir," said a senior NIA official to ETV Bharat.

The NIA termed TRF as a wing of LeT. In fact, the organization and the J&K police are investigating many cases for the alleged involvement of TRF. The NIA recently got inputs against the TRF as its name came up during an investigation in the Bathindi IED recovery case.

"The terror groups are trying to create terror in Kashmir valley and Jammu region. The main handlers of TRF are based in Pakistan though they are recruiting local youths from J&K to carry out subversive activities," the NIA official said.

It may be mentioned here that NIA along with J&K police and CRPF on Tuesday conducted searches in Anantnag, Baramulla, Kulgan, Srinagar, Doda and Kishtwar districts of J&K in connection with the IED recovery case. On June 27, security agencies recovered 5 kgs of IED from a LeT terrorist at Bathindi.

"Investigation revealed that Pakistan based handlers of proscribed terror outfit LeT and their associates based in J&K are planning terrorist activities in J&K using the pseudo-acronym TRF so as to maintain plausible deniability and evade Law Enforcement Agencies," the NIA said.

"We are trying to identify the leaders in TRF by extensive search operations across J&K region," the NIA official said.

The security agencies believe that TRF was floated after the Union government abrogated Article 370 in 2019.

The terror handlers based in Pakistan created TRF by recruiting members from LeT and other organizations.

The involvement of TRF with terror activities came to the fore following a grenade attack on CRPF men at the Lal Chowk area of Srinagar in February last year. TRF also took the responsibility of killing three BJP leaders in Kulgam in J&K in October last year.

However, the security agencies have also intensified their operations against all such terror activities.

Three TRF militants were gunned down by security forces in the Sopore area in Baramula district last month. One AK 47 rifle, two pistols and ammunition were recovered from the slain militants.

Security agencies believe that with mounting international pressure on Pakistan to act against terror organisations, the Inter Service Intelligence (ISI) has re-strategised its tactic by floating new organisations.

Meanwhile, a report in South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP) said that Islamist terrorist and extremist organizations, including global terrorist formations such as Islamic State (IS, Daesh), and al Qaeda, as well as Pakistan sponsored groups such as Lashkar-e-Toiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and Hizb-ul-Mujahedeen (HM), continue to target India.

It said that the patterns of politically engineered communal polarisation have enormously escalated over the past years, driving up the risk of Islamist terrorist and extremist mobilisation.