A militant was killed in an encounter that started between security forces and hiding militants on Wednesday at Tilwani Mohalla Waggad in Pulwama’s Tral, the sixth such gunfight in the past two days.
The police identified him as Sham Sofi, a ‘commander’ of the Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM).
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Amid this development, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested four persons for their alleged links with The Resistance Front (TRF), which has claimed responsibility for the recent attacks in the Valley.
According a police spokesman, “The police and security forces are on the job.”
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Eight militants were gunned down and five security personnel lost their lives in operations in the Valley this week. Militants had carried out multiple attacks, especially on minority community, in Kashmir.
Earlier in the day, a NIA spokesman observed that the agency conducted searches at multiple locations in the Union Territory in the past 24 hours and arrested four persons.
The arrested were identified as Waseem Ahmed Sofi from Srinagar’s Chattabal; Tariq Ahmed Dar from Srinagar’s Shergarhi; Bilal Ahmed Mir alias Bilal Fufu from Srinagar’s Parimpora and Tariq Ahmed Bafanda from Srinagar’s Rajauri Kadal.
‘Hatching of conspiracy’
The NIA said the arrests were made in a case that pertained to information received regarding the “hatching of conspiracy both physically and in cyberspace for undertaking violent terrorist acts in J&K and other major cities, including New Delhi, by cadres of proscribed terrorist organisations Laskhar-e-Taiba [LeT], Jaish-e-Mohammed [JeM], Hizb-ul-Mujahideen [HM], Al Badr and similar other outfits and their affiliates such as the Resistance Front [TRF], People Against Fascist Forces [PAFF] etc”.
The NIA searched 16 locations in Srinagar, Pulwama and Shopian on Tuesday. During the searches, several electronic devices, incriminating ‘jehadi’ documents and records of suspicious financial transactions were seized, it claimed.
“Preliminary investigation revealed that the arrested accused persons are terror associates or Over ground Workers (OGWs) of various proscribed terrorist organisations and have been providing logistical and material support to terrorists and facilitating them in their nefarious designs,” the NIA stated.
