The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed a chargesheet against two persons alleging that the Udhampur improvised explosive device (IED) blasts in September last year were carried out by the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
The arraigned accused have been identified as Mohammed Aslam Sheikh and Mohammed Amin Bhat. They allegedly attempted to revive terrorist activities in Jammu by making recruitments from a pool of over-ground workers and surrendered terrorists. The NIA took over the case from the Jammu & Kashmir police on November 15, 2022.
Mr. Bhat, a Doda resident who now operates from Pakistan and has been declared a terrorist under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, had allegedly recruited Mr. Sheikh to trigger the two IED blasts on the buses parked in the public areas of Udhampur. Two persons were injured in the explosions.
As alleged, Mr. Bhat had joined Hizb-ul Mujahideen in 1997 and was involved in terrorist activities in J&K. He escaped to Pakistan in 2009 and is currently operating as an LeT handler. At his instance, accused Mr. Sheikh had collected the explosives smuggled from across the border in Kathua sector using drones. Through the internet, Mr. Bhat taught him to configure IEDs.
On September 28, 2022, Mr. Sheikh allegedly planted the bombs in two buses, which were plying between Basnatgarh and Udhampur. While one device went off around midnight, the other exploded in the early hours of September 29.
After getting arrested, Mr. Sheikh allegedly disclosed that more explosives had been kept for future attacks. Subsequently, two more IEDs, three sticky bombs, three detonators and two programmed timer devices were seized from his residence, said the agency in a statement.
