National Investigation Agency (NIA) searches in Kashmir are accompanied by security troops.
On Thursday, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) raided the homes of hybrid terrorists and Overground Workers (OGWs) for banned terrorist groups in south Kashmir that get support from Pakistan.
A spokeswoman for the NIA said in a statement that the searches were conducted as part of the agency’s inquiries into the terror plot case in Jammu and Kashmir.
Some of these new groups have already issued threats of attacks in J&K through social media. One such group is The Resistance Front (TRF), a shadow organisation of Lashkar-e-Taiba.
Today, there were raids in Shopian, Awantipora, and Pulwama, totaling five different sites. The NIA also conducted raids on the homes and offices of supporters and members of the recently formed groups, including The Resistance Front (TRF), United Liberation Front Jammu and Kashmir (ULFJ&K), Mujahideen Gazwat-ul-Hind (MGH), Jammu and Kashmir Freedom Fighters (JKFF), Kashmir Tigers (KT), PAAF, and others. “These groups have links to the Pakistani-backed terrorist organisations Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM), Al-Badr (Al Qaeda), and others,” the statement reads.
“Several digital devices carrying substantial quantities of incriminating material were discovered by NIA during today’s searches, once again putting the emphasis on OGWs as an essential aspect of the terror ecosystem in the Valley, which is being demolished in a constant process. “These individuals, also referred to as hybrid terrorists, aid Pakistan-based militants and terrorists,” it claimed.
According to the statement, the NIA opened an investigation into the possible participation of cadres and OGWs from different groups in propagating activities related to terror, violence, and subversion in J&K on June 21, 2022, by filing a suo moto case (RC-05/2022/NIA/JMU). Sticky and magnetic explosives, improvised explosive devices (IEDs), money, drugs, and weapons have all been collected and distributed by these cadres and employees.
According to NIA investigations, Pakistan-based agents were spreading terror propaganda on social media. They were using drones to supply their agents and cadres in the Kashmir valley with weapons, ammunition, explosives, drugs, and other materials, the report said.
The terror conspiracy involves the planning of violent terrorist acts in J&K using sticky bombs, IEDs, small guns, etc. by the banned organisations in both physical and virtual space. “The organisations, with the backing of their masters in Pakistan, have been plotting to commit acts of terror and violence in J&K by radicalising local youth and mobilising overground workers,” the NIA statement said.
