Crack down on terrorism: NIA raids multiple locations in J&K

NEW DELHI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Saturday conducted raids at multiple locations in connection with various cases related to terror funding and terrorism.

An NIA official said that extensive searches were conducted in Srinagar, Budgam, Pulwama, Shopian, Awantipora, Anantnag, Handwara, Kupwara and Poonch districts.

“The raids were conducted at the premises of members of the banned Jamaat-e-Islami (J&K) and overground workers involved in conspiracies hatched by proscribed terrorist organisations and their affiliates. Our searches also focused on the J&K terror funding case, registered suo moto by the agency on February 5, 2021,” said the NIA official.

The NIA said that a large number of incriminating documents and digital devices were seized during the searches.

“The terror funding case pertains to the collection of funds by JeI (J&K) ostensibly for charitable purposes but which were being used instead for the promotion of terror activities by proscribed terrorist organisations, such as Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). We had earlier chargesheeted four persons in the case, involving well-organised cadres of the terrorist outfits operating out if J&K,” said the NIA official.

The NIA had, on June 21, 2022, registered another case against the various banned terrorist organisations and their newly-floated affiliates. The case related to the conspiracies being hatched physically and in the cyberspace by these outfits for carrying out violent terrorist attacks in J&K with sticky bombs, IEDs and small arms.

“The NIA has been moving swiftly to take action against some of the recently-launched affiliates of the banned terrorist organisations, such as LeT, HM, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Al-Badr, and Al-Qaeda.

“Among the affiliates under NIA scrutiny are The Resistance Front (TRF), United Liberation Front Jammu & Kashmir (ULFJ&K), Mujahideen Gazwat-ul-Hind (MGH), Jammu & Kashmir Freedom Fighters (JKFF), Kashmir Tigers, and PAAF,” said the official.