JAMMU: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested a “key conspirator” in the killing of BJP leader Anil Parihar and his brother in Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir in 2018, its spokesperson said on Wednesday.
Malik Noor Mohammad Fayyaz (51), a resident of village Phagsoo in Thathri area of Doda district, was arrested on Tuesday and subsequently produced in NIA special court here which granted the agency three-day custody on Wednesday, the spokesperson said. Senior BJP leader Anil Parihar and his brother Ajit Parihar were shot dead by Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists outside their house in Kishtwar district on November 1, 2018.
The NIA took over the investigation of the case on November 28, 2018 and had already filed a charge sheet against seven of the accused including three slain terrorists of Hizbul Mujahideen — Osama-bin-Javid, Haroon Abbass Wani and Zahid Hussain – in the NIA special court Jammu on May 15, 2020. The four others arrested in the case are Nisar Ahmad Sheikh, Nishad Ahmed Butt, Azad Hussain Bagwan and Rustam Ali, all residents of Kishtwar. The spokesperson said the investigation in the case to unearth the larger conspiracy hatched by the terrorists of Hizbul Mujahideen and overground workers (OGW) who were reviving terrorism in the region of Chenab valley — Doda, Kishtwar and Ramban — led to the identification of Malik.
“Investigation has revealed that he (Malik) was the co-conspirator for reviving the terrorism in Chenab valley. He had also visited Assam and Nagaland along with slain terrorist Osama-bin-Javid for procurement of the weapons for the said purpose,” the NIA said. It said he was also instrumental in motivating and recruiting gullible youths to join the cadres of Hizbul Mujahideen.
The special court Jammu granted three days custody of the accused to the NIA, the spokesperson said, adding further investigation in the case continues.
