Hindustan Times (Patiala)

Pak embassy official asked Davinder to secure info: NIA

- Neeraj Chauhan & Ravi Krishnan Khajuria letters@hindustant­imes.com ■

NEW DELHI/JAMMU: Six months after he was arrested while providing safe passage to Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) terrorists, the National Investigat­ion Agency (NIA) on Monday filed a chargeshee­t against suspended deputy superinten­dent of Jammu and Kashmir police Davinder Singh for conspiring with terror groups and Pakistani officials for subversive activities in the valley.

The agency has stated in the charge-sheet, filed under terror laws, that not only had Davinder provided safe passage twice to terrorists in his car; but had also been in touch with an assistant in the Pakistan high commission in Delhi, identified as Shafqat, for seeking informatio­n on sensitive military establishm­ents in Kashmir, officials said on condition of anonymity.

Shafqat was repatriate­d to Pakistan last month along with 50% of staff at the mission as a part of an Indian decision to reduce its strength . He has not been named as an accused but figures in the charge-sheet for being in touch with Davinder Singh and terrorists through WhatsApp and other platforms.

“Davinder Singh was in touch with certain officials of Pakistan

High Commission in New Delhi through secure social media platforms. Investigat­ion revealed that he was being groomed by Pakistani officials for obtaining sensitive informatio­n,” said Deputy Inspector General, Sonia Narang, NIA spokespers­on.

Apart from Singh, the charge sheet named Hizbul’s commander in Shopian and Qazigund Syed Naveed Mushtaq, alias Naveed Babu; and other HM terrorists Irfan Shafi Mir, Rafi Ahmad Rather, Tanvir Ahmed Mir and Babu’s brother Syed Irfan Ahmad. Singh was arrested by J&K police on January 11 this year at a check-post in Qazigund while he was taking Babu, Irfan and Rafi in his i20 car.

The agency stated in its charge-sheet that Davinder Singh had provided safe passage to Babu and his brother in February 2019 as well in his Scorpio car.

It recovered some phones which he used for communicat­ion with terrorists and Pakistan high commission officials.

Sonia Narang said: “Investigat­ion has revealed that Pakistan based leadership of Hizb-ulMujahide­en (HM) namely Syed Salahudin, Amir Khan (Deputy Chief), Khursheed Alam (Operationa­l Head), Nazar Mehmood (Financial Head) and others along with Pakistani establishm­ent is extending support to the cadre and commanders of outfit in Jammu & Kashmir.”

The agency said that Irfan Shafi Mir was a key person in the case as he had been to Pakistan four times since 2016 and met Syed Salahuddin.

“Irfan Shafi not only met HM leadership in Pakistan but also met Umar Cheema, Ahshan Chaudhary, Sohail Abbas and others of ISI {Inter-Services Intelligen­ce} of Pakistan and he was tasked to identify and activate the new hawala channels for transfer of money for sustaining terrorist activities in Kashmir valley.

Investigat­ion also revealed that certain officials of Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi were in constant touch with Irfan Shafi and he was provided with funds to organise seminars in J&K to mobilise the masses against India.

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Davinder Singh
■ Davinder Singh

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