NIA files chargesheet against 25 in terror conspiracy case

SRINAGAR: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday filed a chargesheet against 25 people, including a woman, in a terror conspiracy case in the special NIA court in New Delhi. “The case pertains to a conspiracy both on physical as well as cyberspace for undertaking violent (terror) acts in J&K and other parts of the country, by cadres of (terrorist) organisations like Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM),

Hizbul Mujahideen

(HM), Al-Badr and their affiliates such as The

Resistance Front

(TRF), People Anti-Fascist Forces (

PAFF

) etc.,” the agency said in a statement.

NIA said the investigation has unearthed a “deep-rooted conspiracy of Pakistan-based (terrorist) organisations joining hands in form of a united group and shifting of their modus operandi by floating pseudo offshoot outfits portrayed as indigenous resistance groups, in whose name (terrorist) acts are being committed with an intention to claim deniability at the international level.”

“After the abrogation of Article 370, this shift was discernible in claims of (terror) acts done in J&K. Many affiliate/offshoot outfits such as TRF, PAFF, United Liberation Front J&K, Muslim Janbaaz Force, Kashmir Janbaaz Force, Kashmir Tigers, Kashmir Fight, Mujahideen Gazwat-ul-Hind, Kashmir Gaznavi Force, etc., had suddenly mushroomed, laying claims to various (terror) acts,” the NIA said.

The agency said the investigation has established that all these “pseudo-outfits” are, in fact, offshoots or rechristened versions of terrorist organisations based in Pakistan and “have been floated under a deep-rooted conspiracy to portray (terrorism in) J&K as home-grown insurgency”.

“A well-organised propaganda machinery operating on cyberspace through various websites, blogs, social media handles, closed channels on encrypted communication platforms, etc., wherein a concocted and skewed narrative is presented to impressionable youth,” said the agency, adding that “investigation has revealed that all this media propaganda of different (terrorist) outfits was epicentres around common nodes operating from Pakistan”.

“A key element of the conspiracy was inducting new cadres in form of ‘hybrid terrorists’ belonging to various walks of life, who could use their cover to remain rooted in the society while simultaneously carrying out instructions from their handlers,” an NIA spokesperson said, adding that while acting as an overground worker, these recruits were also found indulging in terrorist activities such as grenade lobbing and attacking vulnerable targets.

The investigation also revealed a clear shift in the strategy of terrorist organisations toward targeted killings of minorities, civilians, migrants, government officials and unguarded security personnel. Further probe is underway, the spokesperson added.

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