SRINAGAR: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday said that it has filed the first supplementary chargesheet against a militant associate of the proscribed Hizb-ul-Mujahideen outfit.

The federal investigator said in a statement that the case pertains to the conspiracy hatched by the proscribed militant organisations, such as Lashkar-e-Toida (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammaed(JeM), Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM), along with their frontal organisations, such as TRF, PAFF etc and their over ground workers (OGW) operating in Jammu and Kashmir to undertake violent militant action in Kashmir and in other major cities of India, including Delhi.

Investigations in the case had earlier established the connections of commanders of these proscribed organisations based in Pakistan with their operatives in Kashmir to recruit and train the youth in handling arms and explosives, the NIA said. They had floated a lot of propaganda material in cyberspace to talent-spot and recruit these individuals who then function as sleeper cells and cause militant incidents, including targeted killings, acting in small groups or lone wolf actors, it added.

The investigator said 26 persons have already been charge-sheeted in the case, which includes Pakistan-based ‘listed individual militants’ Bashir Ahmed Peer @ Imtiyaz Alam and Imitiyaz Kundoo@ Fayaz Sopore. NIA has also attached the property of Bashir Ahmed Peer on March 4, 2023, under Section 51A of the UA(P)Act, it added.

During further investigations, NIA said it identified and arrested accused Mohammad Rafi Najar son of Mohammad Abdullah Najar, a resident of Sopore, a close associate of Designated Terrorist Imityaz Kundoo@ Fayaz Sopore. “He is a dealer in handicrafts and was based out of Pokhra, Nepal. He was found to be channelizing funds for proscribed militant organisations in the garb of legitimate trade of Kashmiri handicrafts,” the NIA statement said. “The profits accrued from the sale of the handicrafts were then sent to Kashmir valley through hawala channels and distributed amongst the militants operating in the Valley through another charge-sheeted over-ground worker.”

The NIA said a chargesheet has been filed against Mohammad Rafi Najar on March 20, 2023, under various sections of IPC and UA(P)Act, reads the statement. (GNS)

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