SRINAGAR: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Sunday carried out raids at several places in Kashmir valley and arrested two ‘operatives’ of The Resistance Front (TRF), considered a shadow outfit of the banned Lashker-e-Taiba terror group, which has claimed responsibility for a spate of targeted civilian killings.
An NIA spokesperson said that the searches were carried with the assistance of CRPF and Jammu and Kashmir Police at seven locations in Kulgam, Srinagar and Baramulla districts. A case was initially registered at Bahu Fort police station relating to the recovery of an IED from a Lashker-e-Taiba terrorist in Bathindi, Jammu on June 27 for indulging in terrorist acts in the Union territory. The NIA had registered the case again and arrested three terrorists.
Investigation has revealed that Pakistan-based handlers of LeT and their associates based in Jammu and Kashmir had conspired to cause extensive terror activities for harming the public, the spokesperson said. They had planned that responsibility for the terrorist acts would be taken by the pseudo-acronym TRF to maintain plausible deniability and evade law enforcement agencies. During the searches, many digital devices, including mobiles, pen drives, data storage devices and other incriminating materials were recovered, the spokesperson said.
During the course of the searches, two TRF operatives, Tawseef Ahmed Wani from Baramulla in North Kashmir and Faiz Ahmed Khan from Wampora in Anantnag of South Kashmir, were arrested for their involvement in the conspiracy, the spokesperson added.
