Continuing the probe, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday arrested a young girl and her father in Pulwama for alleged connection with the suicide attack that left 49 CRPF personnel dead on February 14, 2019 on Srinagar-Jammu national highway in south Kashmir.
A senior NIA official said 50-year-old Tariq Ahmed Shah and his 23-year-old daughter Insha Jan were arrested from their residence on Tuesday.
“A raid was conducted at the residence in Hakripora village of Pulwama. After the search, the father-daughter duo was arrested,” the official said.
After being quizzed, Shah and his daughter were later handed over to NIA for further questioning.
The development comes days after NIA arrested an alleged Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) militant Shakir Bashir Magrey.
Official sources said that the father-daughter duo allegedly ‘harboured’ main bomber Adil Ahmad Dar and other Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) commanders before the February 14, 2019 attack in Lethpora in Pulwama.
They said that Shah allegedly housed militants at his residence before the attack and the planning was carried out there. “Security forces have also seized incriminating material during the raid,” they added.
As many as 40 personnel were killed on February 14, 2019 in the suicide attack on a CRPF convoy on the national highway at Lethpora in south Kashmir district of Pulwama. The attack brought India and Pakistan to the brick of war.
Magrey, who reportedly provided shelter and logistical help to Dar, was arrested last week, NIA said in a statement. Magrey is a resident of Hajibal, Kakapora in Pulwama and owns a furniture shop.
“He provided shelter and other logistical assistance to the suicide-bomber Adil Ahmad Dar. He was introduced to Adil Ahmad Dar in mid-2018 by a Pakistani terrorist, Mohammad Umar Farooq and he became a full-time OGW of JeM. During his initial interrogation, he has disclosed that on several occasions, he collected and delivered arms, ammunition, cash and explosive material to the JeM terrorists, including those involved in Pulwama attack,” the NIA statement said.
The NIA has intensified its activities since early this year in terror funding cases and a case involving Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP) Davinder Singh, who was caught while transporting two Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) militants out of the valley.
The national agency has so far conducted several dozen raids across Kashmir valley and confiscated incriminating materials.
The father-daughter duo were produced in NIA court at Jammu after which they were remanded to NIA custody for 10 days.
Traffic suspended on Kashmir highway due to fresh landslides
Srinagar, Mar 3 (UNI) Hundreds of vehicles, including those carrying essential commodities and passengers, were stranded as traffic was on Tuesday suspended on Srinagar-Jammu national highway due to fresh landslides.
A traffic police official said there were fresh landslides at Pida on the highway, the only road connecting Kashmir valley with the rest of the country. “The highway has been closed for vehicular movement as a precautionary measure and traffic will be allowed only after getting a green signal from the ground,” he told UNI.
Hundreds of vehicles, including those carrying passengers and trucks loaded with essentials, are stranded on the highway. “Traffic was allowed on Tuesday from Jammu to Srinagar on the highway,” he added.
However, he said the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), responsible for maintenance and widening of the highway, has pressed into service sophisticated machines and men to clear the landslides.
Meanwhile, the 434-km-long Srinagar-Leh national highway, the only road linking Union Territory (UT) of Ladakh with Kashmir, remained closed for the past over two months due to accumulation of snow. Snow clearance operation has already been started on the highway.
The 86-km-long historic Mughal road, connecting Shopian in south Kashmir with Rajouri and Poonch in Jammu region and Anantnag-Kishtwar road also remained closed due to accumulation of snow for the past over two months.