NIA Attaches Properties of Three Persons for Militancy Links in Kashmir

Srinagar: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) said it had attached properties of three persons accused of being involved in militancy in the region, officials said on Wednesday.

The agency said that the action against the trio is part of the intensified security crackdown in Kashmir and that the three properties were seized as part of two cases allegedly involving the members of outfits Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), among others.

In the first case, according to an official statement, the NIA attached the immovable properties of two accused, identified as Doulat Ali Mugal and Ishaq Pala, in Herman village of South Kashmir’s Shopian under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

Pala, currently lodged in Central Jail Agra, is believed to be affiliated with Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) and Al-Badr outfit. Mugal is accused of being an overground worker (OGW) of the banned HM. Mugal is currently out on bail, the statement read.

The statement added that Pala, during his time in Central Jail Srinagar, had allegedly conspired with his co-accused, including Riyaz Naikoo and Mugal, and assisted Danish Ghulam Lone and Suhail Ahmad Bhat to cross the border from Kupwara Sector to join militant ranks and wage war against the State.

Mugal has been accused of providing logistic support to accused Lone and Bhat at Kupwara when both were about to cross the Line of Control (LoC).

“They were charge-sheeted by the agency on February 22, 2019, and charges were framed by the NIA Special Court Jammu on August 6, 2019,” the statement said.

The properties attached on orders of NIA Special Court include land measuring 5.5 Marla and 3.5 Marla under survey Nos 1597 Min and 1598 Min, including one double-storey house of Mugal located at Village Manigah in North Kashmir’s Kupwara and immoveable property in the form of two rooms under the ownership of Pala at village Allora at Herman.

The NIA launched investigations into the case in February 2018. Naikoo, a top militant commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen, however, was killed in an encounter with the security forces in Pulwama in May 2020.

In the second case, the Agency attached the immovable property of Fayaz Ahmad Magray, an alleged OGW of JeM, currently lodged in District Jail Jhajjar in Haryana. The property, owned by Magray, consisted of six shops constructed over land measuring 5.5 Marlas under survey No. 2664 Min at Lethpora, Pulwama.

Magray, according to NIA, was charge-sheeted on August 1, 2018, for allegedly conspiring to execute a fidayeen attack on CRPF Group Centre Lethpora, Pulwama.

“He carried out a recce of the CRPF centre and provided logistic support to JeM terrorists before and after the attack,” the NIA said.

During the attack, two local militants, Fardeen Ahmad Khandey and Manzoor Ahmad Baba and a Pakistani national, Abdul Shakoor, were killed. Other key conspirators, identified as Mudassir Khan and Sajjad alias Mufti Waqas, also believed to be from Pakistan, were killed in subsequent encounters.

The attachment of property comes days after the NIA carried out raids across the region in over two dozen locations. Similar action has been taken by the State Investigation Agency (SIA) of the J&K Police since the last year, in which scores of properties worth crores of rupees have been attached across Kashmir for their alleged links to militancy-related activities.