NIA attaches properties of 4 persons in Kupwara

Kupwara, Feb 24: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) Saturday attached the residential houses of four persons in the Handwara area of north Kashmir’s Kupwara district.

The action was taken against the persons accused in a 2020 narco-terror case.

The accused are blamed for using the proceeds of narcotic drugs to fund violent terror activities by Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) terror groups in Handwara and Kupwara areas.

A team of NIA, Police, and CRPF arrived early in the morning in Handwara and attached a single-storey house of accused Muneer Ahmad Banday in Banday Mohalla Handwara, following which a double-storey house of accused Afaq Ahmad Wani was attached in Zargar Mohalla of Handwara.

The house of Saleem Andrabi and the double-storey house of Islam-ul-Haq were also attached in the Waskhura area of Handwara.

Meanwhile, the NIA in a statement said, “In a major step towards dismantling the funding networks that are fuelling terrorism in Kashmir, the NIA has attached four properties and seized cash in the Handwara narco-terrorism case, involving two proscribed terrorist outfits, LeT and HM.”

It said that the properties belonging to the four accused had been attached in Handwara by the NIA, which had also seized Rs 2.27 crore in cash under Section 25 of the UA(P) Act.

“The immovable properties attached are the double-storey house of accused Afaq Ahmad Wani, the single-storey house of accused Muneer Ahmad Pandey, the house of Saleem Andrabi, and the double-storey house of Islam-ul-Haq,” the statement said.

It said that a total of 12 accused had so far been arrested in the case in which the NIA has chargesheeted 15 individuals.

The case RC 03/2020/NIA/JMU relates to the use of the proceeds of narcotic drugs to fund violent terror activities by LeT and HM operating in the Handwara-Kupwara region.

The case was registered following the recovery of a black bag and Indian currency notes of Rs 500 denomination during the checking of vehicles in the Langate area of Handwara.

“The seizure was made from a white car without a registration number,” the statement said.

It said that the preliminary questioning of the car’s driver, Abdul Momin Peer, had led to the revelations about the narco-terror nexus, which sparked a detailed investigation by the NIA.

“During the initial searches in the houses of various accused, 21 kg of heroin was seized in addition to various incriminating material including large sums of cash,” the statement said. “The anti-terror agency is continuing with its relentless efforts to destroy and dismantle the terror network in Kashmir and safeguard national security.”