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Kashmir: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested one more accused in the Pakistan-backed terrorism case involving the delivery of weapons through drones to militants active in Kashmir. The arrested man has been identified as Zakir Hussain, according to an NIA spokesperson. This is the eighth arrest in the case. He has been 22-year-old, a resident of Kathua district in Jammu region. He said that Hussain was arrested by an NIA team in Jammu on Monday.
He is the 8th accused to be arrested in the case registered by the NIA on July 30, 2022 after taking over the case from Kathua Police. The spokesperson said, “The J&K Police had registered a case on May 29 last year following the interception of a drone and seizure of several rounds of under barrel grenade launchers (UBGLs) along with magnetic bombs near the Dhalli area in Kathua. The case was later taken over by NIA on July 30 the same year.”
He further said,”He (Hussain) was allegedly involved in collecting, receiving and transporting the weapons dropped from across the international border to terrorists active in Kashmir.” One of the seven accused arrested earlier had died due to cardiac arrest while in judicial custody while two Pakistan-based terror operatives are absconding.
“The seven arrested accused and the two absconders were chargesheeted by NIA on January 12 this year under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, the Arms Act, the Explosive Substances Act and the IPC,” he said. According to NIA investigations, the accused were working on the directions of their Pakistani handler, identified as Sajjad Gul. The accused were involved in collecting, receiving and transporting the weapons dropped through drones to militants active in the Kashmir valley.
The weapons were used to commit terrorist attacks in Jammu and Kashmir. According to the information, NIA is continuing with its investigations into the matter to unravel the bigger conspiracy of Pakistan-backed terrorist groups to carry out acts of terror and violence in Kashmir and across India. The local police had initially registered the case following the interception of a drone (Hexacopter) and seizure of several of round of UBGL / Magnetic Bombs near Dhalli area of PS Rajbagh in District Kathua.
