The National Investigation Agency (NIA) officials on Wednesday, 13 October, revealed that they had arrested four persons, all residents of Srinagar, during the central agency's search at 16 locations in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
The search was carried out in areas including those in Srinagar, Shopian and Pulwama.
The search was part of an investigation initiated to "unearth conspiracy of terror groups" to carry out attacks in the Union Territory and other cities in the country — in the physical and cyber space.
The NIA had registered a case on 10 October and have found that the accused are allegedly "terror associates" or "Over Ground Workers (OGW)" who are associated with prescribed terror organisations and have been providing them with logistical and material support and facilitating them in nefarious designs, PTI reported.
The terror groups in question include Lashkar-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) and People Against Fascist Forces (PAFF).
"The terror associates/Over Ground Workers of these organisations are conspiring with their handlers and commanders based in a neighbouring country and also indulging in radicalisation of local youth for the purpose of recruiting and training them in handling of arms, ammunition and explosives."NIA spokesperson (source: PTI)
These revelations are based on preliminary investigation and the NIA has said that further investigations are underway.
(With inputs from PTI)
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