NIA teams carry out searches in Kashmir

SRINAGAR : The National Investigation Agency on Sunday morning carried out searches in connection with a case in which a senior Jammu and Kashmir police officer was arrested while ferrying terrorists outside the valley, officials said here.

Multiple NIA teams fanned in various parts of south Kashmir and carried out the searches at some private offices and residences, they said.

The NIA had taken over the case in which Jammu and Kashmir’s deputy superintendent of Police Davinder Singh, who has since been suspended, was caught in south Kashmir while ferrying two terrorists out of the valley on January 11.

The searches come days after NIA officers interrogated all the accused arrested in the case.

Besides Singh, the others arrested were: Syed Naveed Mushtaq Ahmed alias Naveed Babu, who is a self-styled commander of Hizbul Mujahideen, Rafi Ahmed Rather and Irfan

Shafi Mir, who claims to be an advocate. They were arrested from the Srinagar-jammu National Highway near Qazigund in South Kashmir.

Later, Naveed’s brother, Syed Irfan Ahmed, was also arrested on January 23 after he was brought from Punjab. He was in constant touch with his brother and had asked him to look for an accommodation in Chandigarh where they could escape the harsh winters months of Kashmir.

Mir, who was driving the vehicle when they were caught by the police from a national highway in Kulgam district, may become a prize catch for the NIA as it is alleged he was acting on the orders of his masters in Pakistan. He had visited the neighbouring country five times on an Indian passport.