The Jammu and Kashmir police on Wednesday raided multiple locations across the State following the explosion in Delhi that claimed 13 lives. More than 300 locations linked to persons affiliated with the banned Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) were raided by the crack team of State police to demolish the terror ecosystem in different parts of the Kashmir Valley.
Most members of the now-exposed White Collar terror module have been linked to the State. Police teams from the National Capital Region are coordinating with the J&K police to collect their details. Several police teams are closely verifying contacts of the accused who may have extended logistics and support to the members of the module. The terror module was exposed by the J&K police as part of their investigation into posters that surfaced in the Nowgam area of Srinagar around October 19.
According to a spokesman of J&K police, searches were conducted at the residences and premises of JeI members and their associates across Kulgam, Budgam, Pulwama, Shopian, Baramulla and Ganderbal. The raids were based on credible intelligence inputs indicating attempts by JeI-linked elements to revive their activities under different fronts, the spokesman added.
During the raids, incriminating material and digital devices were seized, and several JeI members were interrogated and detained to trace and disrupt networks aiding terrorism. The police spokesman said these operations form a crucial part of J&K police’s sustained preventive strategy aimed at dismantling the terror-separatist ecosystem, cutting off its ideological, financial, and logistical networks, and ensuring that peace and normalcy remain undisturbed.
The police spokesman said that during the past four days, more than 400 cordon and search operations have been conducted across the premises of OGWs, J&K-based Jammu and Kashmir Nationals Operating from Pakistan (JKNOP), places where encounters took place in past, and hideouts of active and killed terrorists. These operations have led to the interrogation of around 500 individuals affiliated with JKNOPs and other banned outfits, many of whom have been bound down and shifted to District Jail Mattan, Anantnag under preventive laws, the spokesman added.
Meanwhile, in another significant development aimed at sending a tough message to separatist sympathisers, Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police (DGP) Nalin Prabhat ordered the attachment of property belonging to senior lawyer and former Kashmir Bar Association president Mian Abdul Qayoom, who is presently under detention for his alleged involvement in the killing of a young lawyer in a militancy-linked case.
Mian Qayoom was arrested for his alleged role in the killing of young lawyer Babar Qadri. Qadri, who was critical of Mian Qayoom, was shot dead by terrorists at his residence in the Hawal area of downtown Srinagar on September 24, 2020. The property, registered under Qayoom’s name, has been categorised as “proceeds of terrorism,” and authorities have approved its attachment under relevant provisions of law, read the order signed by the DGP.
Sharing details of the massive operation, the police spokesman said that the anti-terror raids were conducted at over 200 locations across Kulgam district in south Kashmir on Wednesday.
In north Kashmir’s Baramulla district, police in Sopore launched a major coordinated operation and carried out a district-wide counter-terror and separatist ecosystem action by conducting simultaneous raids at over 30 locations across Sopore, Zaingeer, and Rafiabad areas with the assistance of other security forces.
Extensive search operations were also carried out at multiple locations across Ganderbal, in central Kashmir, targeting individuals and premises associated with the proscribed organisation, the police spokesman said. During the raids, a large quantity of incriminating materials, including documents, digital devices, and printed content having direct links with the banned outfit, were recovered and seized for detailed analysis.
Several suspects have been detained for questioning to ascertain their role in unlawful and subversive activities, the spokesman said. Similar raids were also carried out at multiple locations in Shopian and Pulwama districts in south Kashmir, during which several JeI members were questioned and taken into custody under law, the police spokesman added.
