Srinagar: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday conducted a series of raids across four districts of Kashmir as part of its continuing investigations into the alleged conspiracy of the newly-floated offshoots of militant outfits to destabilise J&K.
A spokesperson of NIA said 12 locations in the four districts of Kulgam, Bandipora, Shopian and Pulwama were raided as part of today’s crackdown.
” The locations raided were residential premises of hybrid militants and Overground Workers linked with the newly-formed offshoots and affiliates of the banned militant outfits,” NIA said, adding premises of sympathisers and cadres of these organisations were also searched extensively in the raids.
The spokesperson said several digital devices containing large volumes of incriminating data were recovered by NIA in these searches.
“These will be subjected to a thorough scrutiny by the agency to unravel the details of the militant conspiracy, which NIA started investigating a year ago after registering a suo moto case (RC-05/2022/NIA/JMU) on 21st June 2022,” they added.
The newly floated militant outfits being probed by NIA include The Resistance Front (TRF), United Liberation Front Jammu & Kashmir (ULFJ&K), Mujahideen Gazwat-ul-Hind (MGH), Jammu & Kashmir Freedom Fighters (JKFF), Kashmir Tigers, PAAF and others. These outfits are affiliated to Pak-backed organisations like Laskhar-e-Toiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM), Al-Badr, Al-Qaeda, etc, which have been banned by the Government of India.
The spokesperson said the cadres and workers whose premises were raided are under the NIA’s scanner for their involvement in the collection and distribution of sticky bombs/magnetic bombs, IEDs, funds, narcotic substances and arms/ammunitions. They have been engaged in spreading activities relating to militancy, violence and subversion in J&K, according to the NIA investigations.
The investigations by NIA have revealed that Pak-based operatives were using social media platforms to promote militancy. Drones were being used by them to deliver arms/ammunition, explosives, narcotics etc. to their operatives and cadres in the Kashmir valley
The militant conspiracy under investigation relates to plotting by the banned outfits in both physical and cyber space to unleash violent militant attacks in J&K with sticky bombs, IEDs and small arms etc. The organisations, supported by their masters in Pakistan, have been conspiring to commit acts of militancy and violence, by radicalizing local youth and mobilizing overground workers, to disturb peace and communal harmony in J&K, officials said.
