NIA successfully unearthed links of Nagrota terror attack; Jaish-e-Mohammad outfit involved
Srinagar, June 8: In a major breakthrough, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has finally successfully connected all the dots of how Nagrota terror attack took place. Notably, the three accused arrested in connection with the Nagrota terror attack has finally accepted of being in touch with the commanders of Pakistan based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM).
After the interrogation of Ashiq Baba, Syed Muneer-Ul-Hasan-Qadri and Tariq Ahmad Dar who were arrested earlier in the case, the NIA unearthed the conspiracy of Nagrota terror attack. The NIA official also confirmed that the interrogation of three prime accused have revealed that they were in regular touch with JeM commanders.
Giving details in brief, the NIA official further stated that they were in contact through Whatsapp voice and text messages with Maulana Mufti Ashghar based in Muzaffarabad, whose nephew Waqas, a JeM commander in south Kashmir was killed in a shootout with security forces near Pulwama. “They were also in touch with Qari Zarar, another JeM commander in charge of launching terrorists into Jammu region, based out of Rawalpindi and Waseem and Abu Talha,” he added.
He also stated that to organize attacks on security forces in Jammu and Kashmir, Baba visited Pakistan four times with legal passport and visas via crossing the Wagah border between 2015 and 2017. “Baba obtained visas for Pakistan visits after getting reference letters from Hurriyat leaders Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Abdul Gani Bhat and Maulana Umar Farooq,” the official claimed.
The officer further noted that Baba met JeM commanders and took directions from them after getting clearance from local ISI agent. Baba thereafter, on return, received instructions on how and when to receive the group of terrorists.”
BACKGROUND:
The Indian Army base in Nagrota, Jammu and Kashmir was attacked on 29 November 2016 by a group of terrorists. During the ensuing gun battle, seven Indian soldiers, including two officers and all three terrorists were killed.
Few days before, NIA had arrested Ashiq Baba who is a resident of Allochi Bagh area in Srinagar in connection with the Nagrota terror attack. However, a week prior to that, NIA nabbed Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) operative Syed Muneer -Ul-Hassan Qadri, a resident of Kupwara district in connection with Nagrota terror attack.