J-K terror conspiracy: NIA chargesheets Pak national among three Lashkar offshoots

New Delhi [India], January 9 : Tightening its noose further around Pakistan-backed terrorist organisations operating in Jammu and Kashmir, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday charge-sheeted a Pakistani national among three more persons affiliated with an offshoot of the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) for conspiring to unleash violent terrorist attacks with sticky bombs, Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and small arms.

Pakistani national Habibullah Malik, hailing from Kasur district in Pak Punjab, has been found to have been involved in various terrorist attacks in Poonch and Rajouri districts, said the NIA.

Habibullah, along with Hilal Yaqooob Deva alias Sethi Soab and Musiab Fayaz Baba alias Shoaib alias Zarar, both hailing from Shopian in Kashmir, have been named in the supplementary chargesheet filed before the NIA Special Court, Jammu, under the relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.
"Investigations so far have revealed that the charge-sheeted trio had entered into a criminal conspiracy to carry out terrorist attacks on security forces and others in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir with the intention to wage war against the Government of India," said the NIA.
Habibullah was an active commander of Pakistan-based The Resistance Front (TRF), an offshoot of the proscribed LeT terror outfit. He was engaged in motivating vulnerable Kashmiri youth to join the TRF and LeT for carrying out terrorist activities in Jammu and Kashmir, said the NIA.
As per the NIA, Habibullah has different aliases like Sajid Jutt, Saifullah, Noomi, Numan, Langda, Ali Sajid, Usman Habib and Shani.
NIA investigations reveal that Habibullah had radicalized the other two accused, Hilal and Musiab, both of whom had started working as Over Ground Workers (OGWs) for him.
"On Habibullah's directions, the two OWGs had collected and transported funds and weapons from and to his other OGWs to facilitate and support terror attacks in J-K," said the anti-terror agency.

"The entire conspiracy was found to be part of the bigger plans of the banned terrorist outfits to commit acts of terror and violence by indoctrinating local youth and mobilising overground workers to disturb the peace and communal harmony in J-K," the NIA added.
The supplementary chargesheet follows investigations in the case (RC-05/2022/NIA/JMU) registered suo-motu by the NIA on June 21, 2022. The case relates to a conspiracy hatched physically as well as in cyberspace by various proscribed terrorist organizations to spread fear and terror and disrupt peace in Jammu and Kashmir.

With the various banned terrorist organizations floating new outfits to carry out their terror-related activities in Jammu and Kashmir, the NIA has stepped up its crackdown and investigations in the region in recent months.
Under the NIA scanner are outfits such as The Resistance Front (TRF), United Liberation Front Jammu & Kashmir (ULFJ&K), Mujahideen Gazwat-ul-Hind (MGH), Jammu and Kashmir Freedom Fighters (JKFF), Kashmir Tigers, PAAF and others. These outfits are affiliated with Laskhar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM), Al-Badr, and Al-Qaeda.
The anti-terror agency has intensified its operations to thwart the conspiracy of these organizations to revive terrorism and disturb the peace and communal harmony of Jammu and Kashmir.