STICKY BOMBS AND IED PLOT | NIA files chargesheet against Pakistan national, 2 LeT OGWs

Srinagar, Jan 9: Tightening its noose further around Pakistan-backed terrorist organisations operating in Jammu and Kashmir, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) Tuesday chargesheeted three more persons affiliated with an offshoot of the banned Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) for conspiring to unleash violent terrorist attacks with sticky bombs, IEDs, and small arms.

The chargesheeted accused include a Pakistani national Habibullah Malik alias Sajid Jutt, Saifullah, Noomi, Numan, Langda, Ali Sajid, Usman Habib, and Shani, hailing from Kasur district in Punjab, Pakistan.

He has been found to have been involved in various terrorist attacks in Poonch and Rajouri districts.

Habibullah, along with Hilal Yaqooob Deva alias Sethi Soab and Musiab Fayaz Baba alias Shoaib and Zarar, both hailing from Shopian in Kashmir, have been named in the supplementary chargesheet filed on Tuesday before the NIA Special Court, Jammu, under relevant sections of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and UA (P) Act, 1967.

The supplementary chargesheet follows investigations in the case (RC-05/2022/NIA/JMU) registered suo-motu by the NIA on June 21, 2022.

The case relates to a conspiracy hatched physically as well as in cyberspace by various proscribed terrorist organisations to spread fear and terror and disrupt peace in J&K.

Investigations so far have revealed that the chargesheeted trio had entered into a criminal conspiracy to carry out terrorist attacks on security forces and others in Jammu and Kashmir to wage war against the Government of India.

Habibullah was an active commander of Pakistan-based The Resistance Front (TRF), an offshoot of the LeT.

He was engaged in motivating vulnerable Kashmiri youth to join the TRF and LeT for carrying out terrorist activities in J&K.

As per NIA investigations, Habibullah had radicalised the other two accused, Hilal and Musiab both of whom had started working as Over Ground Workers (OGWs) for him.

On Habibullah’s directions, the two OWGs had collected and transported funds and weapons from and to his other OGWs to facilitate and support terror attacks in J&K.

The entire conspiracy was found to be part of the bigger plans of the banned terrorist outfits to commit acts of terror and violence by indoctrinating local youth and mobilising OGWs to disturb peace and communal harmony in J&K.

With the various banned terrorist organisations floating new outfits to carry out their terror-related activities in J&K, the NIA has stepped up its crackdown and investigations in the region in recent months.

Under the NIA scanner are outfits like the TRF, United Liberation Front Jammu and Kashmir (ULFJ&K), Mujahideen Gazwat-ul-Hind (MGH), Jammu and Kashmir Freedom Fighters (JKFF), Kashmir Tigers, and People's Anti-Fascist Front (PAFF).

These outfits are affiliated with LeT, Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM), Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM), Al-Badr, and Al-Qaeda.

The anti-terror agency has intensified its operations to thwart the conspiracy of these organisations to revive terrorism and disturb peace and communal harmony in Jammu and Kashmir.