Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir): The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has announced a bounty of Rs 10 lakhs on militant Basit Ahmed Dar, a resident of South Kashmir's Kulgam district. Dar is associated with The Resistance Front (TRF). The poster released by the Agency read, "In the case (RC-32/2021/NIA/DLI) registered against Dar, the agency is on the lookout for him and anyone, who provides information in this regard will be given a reward of Rs 10 lakhs. The informer's name will be kept secret."
Interestingly, the Jammu and Kashmir police repeatedly claimed that Dar was responsible for the civilian killings in the Valley last year. The police have also claimed that "after joining the militant ranks, Dar used to follow orders and directives of TRF commander Abbas Sheikh, but after the death of Sheikh, Dar himself became the commander of TRF." Pertinently, after the abrogation of Article 370 in the year 2019, some new militant organisations emerged in the Valley, one of them being the TRF. However, the police assert, "There is no difference between TRF and Lashkar-e-Taiba. It's just that they are now operating under a new name.
Meanwhile, in a major breakthrough in the Jammu & Kashmir terror conspiracy case, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday arrested two persons, involved with Kashmiri terror groups, from Srinagar. The duo, Mushaib Fayaz Baba alias Shoaib (20) and Hilal Yaqoob Deva alias Sethi Soab (35) were working for Pak-based commanders and handlers of proscribed terrorist organisations, such as Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and its shadow outfit The Resistance Front (TRF), among others.
Also read: Five terrorist associates of LeT arrested in J&K's Budgam: Police
The arrests happened following a series of raids conducted by the NIA at the residential premises of Over Ground Workers (OGWs) of the banned terrorist organisations and their newly-floated offshoots and affiliates in recent days. Several digital devices were seized during the raids, which were scrutinised by the agency, as part of its investigations in the case (NIA Case RC-05/2022/NIA/JMU).
“Investigations revealed that two accused arrested on Friday were in continuous contact with Pakistan-based Commanders and active members of various terrorist outfits through social media applications. They were working as OGWs of the terrorists, and had been actively involved in transporting weapons and funds from one place to another, on the directions of Pak-based Commanders/handlers, as part of a bigger conspiracy,” the NIA said.
The conspiracy had been hatched by cadres and OGWs of various proscribed terrorist organisations in cohort with their commanders based in Pakistan. These cadres and OGWs were actively involved in the collection and distribution of huge consignments of narcotics, cash, small arms, weapons, Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and other types of IEDs, including remote-controlled sticky bombs, magnetic bombs.
Such terrorist hardware and IEDs are either delivered over drones or also assembled locally, for terrorist attacks in J&K, investigations have revealed. “The terror conspiracy was aimed at disturbing peace and communal harmony by carrying out terrorist acts and waging a war against the Government of India,” the NIA said. As per NIA investigations, the terrorist outfits were involved in targeting minorities, migrants and security personnel. The conspiracy had been hatched both physically and through cyberspace, by using secured encrypted social media apps, NIA investigation said.
