Srinagar: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) Monday conducted a series of raids across four districts of Kashmir.
A statement of NIA issued here said that the raids were conducted as part of its continuing investigations into the conspiracy of the newly floated offshoots of proscribed Pakistan-backed terrorist outfits to destabilise J&K.
“Twelve locations in the four districts of Kulgam, Bandipora, Shopian, and Pulwama were raided as part of today’s crackdown. The locations were residential premises of hybrid terrorists and Over Ground Workers (OGWs) linked with the newly formed offshoots and affiliates of the banned terrorist outfits,” the NIA statement said.
It said that the premises of sympathisers and cadres of these organisations were also searched extensively in the raids.
The statement said that several digital devices containing large volumes of incriminating data have been recovered by NIA in these searches.
“These will be subjected to a thorough scrutiny by the agency to unravel the details of the terrorist conspiracy, which NIA started investigating a year ago after registering a suo moto case (RC-05/2022/NIA/JMU) on June 21, 2022. The newly floated terror outfits being probed by NIA include 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, PAAF and others,” the NIA statement said.
It said that these outfits are affiliated to Pakistan-backed organisations like Laskhar-e-Toiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM), Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM), Al-Badr, and Al-Qaeda, which have been banned by the Government of India.
“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 and ammunition. They have been engaged in spreading activities relating to terror, violence and subversion in J&K according to the NIA investigations,” the statement said. “Investigations have revealed that Pakistan-based operatives were using social media platforms to promote terror. They were using drones to deliver arms and ammunition, explosives, and narcotics to their operatives and cadres in Kashmir.”
It said that the terror conspiracy under investigation relates to plotting by the banned outfits in both physical and cyber space to unleash violent terrorist attacks in J&K with sticky bombs, IEDs, and small arms.
“The organisations, supported by their masters in Pakistan, have been conspiring to commit acts of terror and violence by radicalising local youth and mobilising overground workers, to disturb peace and communal harmony in J&K,” the NIA statement said.