NIA expands probe against 5 JEM men in Pulwama case

NEWDELH: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has expanded its probe against five alleged Jaish-e-mohammad (JEM) operatives arrested over the last one month for their suspected roles in the February 2019 Pulwama car bomb attack to other attacks carried out by the group in Jammu & Kashmir in the last few years, two officials familiar with the development said.

The agency has also found “strong evidence” establishing the role of Jem’s Pakistan-based leadership, including Abdul Rauf Asghar, in the Pulwama bombing and source of funding through a third country, said the officials, who requested anonymity. Asghar is JEM founder Masood Azhar’s brother.

In March 2019, India handed over a dossier to Pakistan detailing evidence against the JEM leadership on its role in the Pulwama attack. But Islamabad did not take any substantial action against it. “Now, after these arrests, we have more detailed evidence against Jem’s top brass,” said one of the officers cited above.

The agency will soon send a Letter Rogatory to Pakistan in this regard, the officials said. Letthe ters rogatory are issued for obtaining judicial assistance from a country in the absence of a treaty or other agreement.

The five, Shakir Bashir Magrey, Muhammad Abbas Rather, Waiz-ul-islam, Insha Jan and her father, Tariq Ahmad Shah, were arrested in February and March. The NIA said Magrey was allegedly involved in the Pulwama attack conspiracy starting from planning to conducting a recce and dropping Adil Ahmad Dar, who blew himself up near a paramilitary convoy and left 40 troopers dead. The other four are accused of providing logistics and harbouring the militants. The Pulwama attack brought India and Pakistan to the verge of war.

“We are probing their role in other attacks in Nagrota in 2016, Lethpora in 2017 and the recent encounter in January 2020 in which three JEM members, including Pulwama suicide bomber Adil Ahmad Dar’s cousin, Sameer Ahmad Dar, were killed,” said the second official.

NIA probe has found that Magrey, 22, wanted to become an “active” militant but considering his skills in arranging explosives, providing logistics and shelter, the JEM wanted him to operate from “behind the scenes” so that he can be used for more attacks, said the first official.

Rather was earlier allegedly affiliated to Lashkar-e-taiba until 2017 under Abu Qasim, who was killed in July 2018, according to the NIA. But seeing the JEM was able to carry out more attacks, he joined the group with the help of Pakistani operative Umar Farooq, who was killed in March 2019. Rather is believed to have told the NIA that Farooq was regularly in touch with Asghar and seems to know about Jem’s plans and other operatives, the second official said.

Shah and Jan’s residence is believed to have been used by Adil Ahmad Dar to shoot a video claiming the Jem’s responsibility for the Pulwama attack.

HT this month reported the Pulwama attack was supposed to carried out in the first week of February 2019. But it was deferred due to bad weather that had prompted the CRPF to stop the movement of its convoys, HT reported, citing Magrey’s interrogation. The five have been sent to judicial custody for now.