NIA raids cadres of Jamaat-e-Islami houses in Jammu and Kashmir

NIA raids cadres of Jamaat-e-Islami houses in Jammu and Kashmir

Srinagar, May 20: National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Saturday raided multiple locations in connection with various cases under investigation by the agency.

NIA in a statement said that extensive searches were conducted in Srinagar, Budgam, Pulwama, Shopian, Awantipora, Anantnag, Handwara, Kupwara and Poonch districts relating to members of the banned Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) and overground workers involved in conspiracies hatched by proscribed militant organizations and their affiliates. NIA’s searches also focused on the J&K Militant Funding Case, registered suo moto by the agency in 2021.

NIA spokesperson said that a large number of incriminating documents and digital devices with incriminating contents have been seized during these searches and are being scrutinized to track further links of the suspects.

The militant funding case as per the NIA pertains to the collection of funds by JeI (J&K) ostensibly for charitable purposes but has been using them instead for the promotion of militant activities by proscribed militant organizations, such as Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) etc.

NIA had earlier charge sheeted four persons in the case, involving well-organized cadres of the militant outfits operating in Jammu and Kashmir.

The NIA had last year registered another case against the various banned militant organizations and their newly floated affiliates. The case related to the conspiracies being hatched physically and in cyberspace by these outfits for carrying out militant attacks in J&K with sticky bombs, IEDs and small arms etc. The banned organizations and their affiliates have been engaged in conspiring to commit acts of militancy and violence by radicalizing local youth and mobilizing overground workers with the aim of disrupting the peace and communal harmony in Jammu and Kashmir.

The spokesperson said that continuing with its investigations in both these cases, NIA has been moving swiftly to take action against some of the recently launched affiliates of the banned militant organizations, such as LeT, HUM, Jaish-e-Muhammed (JeM), Al-Badr, Al-Qaeda, etc. 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, PAAF.

NIA investigations so far have shown that cadres and workers of these outfits are involved in the collection and distribution of sticky bombs, magnetic bombs, IEDs, funds, drugs, and weapons & ammunition, as well as in spreading activities relating to terror, violence and subversion in J&K. [KNT]