NIA carries out searches in Al-Qaeda related case in Kashmir

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday carried out searches at five locations in Kashmir in connection with its investigation into a case related to an Al-Qaeda group’s planning to launch terror attacks in India, an official said.

The case was initially registered in Lucknow by Uttar Pradesh’s Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) on July 7 and subsequently taken over by the NIA for an in-depth investigation on July 29, a spokesperson of the agency said.

The NIA said the raids were carried out at five locations in south Kashmir’s Shopian district and central Kashmir’s Budgam district. A large number of incriminating documents and digital devices were seized, it added.

The case pertains to Umar Halmandi, an Al-Qaeda operative, who along with other accused persons, had been radicalising and recruiting vulnerable persons for Al-Qaeda in Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) and trying to raise ‘Ansaar Gajwatul Hind’ (AGH) to carry out terrorist acts, for which they had already arranged arms and explosive substances, the spokesperson said.

“Further investigation in the case is continuing,” the NIA said.