JAMMU, Sept 16: Following information regarding terrorists‘ frantic attempts to resurrect militancy in the area, the Special Investigation Agency (SIA) conducted searches in the upper regions of Jammu and Kashmir’s Reasi, police said on Saturday. According to a police officer, the search was carried out by SIA investigators, a counterterrorism division of the Jammu and Kashmir Police, in the tehsils of Pouni and Mahore in response to intelligence indications that some over-ground workers (OGWs) were giving information and logistical support to anti-national elements. He claimed that during the search, certain electronic devices and a number of documents were taken.Reasi was exonerated of militant activity more than ten years ago, but reports suggest that recent months have seen terrorists moving through the upper regions. More than 25 terrorists were killed in different engagements on the Line of Control and in the hinterland this year in Rajouri and the neighbouring Poonch district. At Gali Sohab hamlet in the Chassana neighbourhood of Reasi district on September 4, one terrorist was killed in a gunbattle with security personnel while another terrorist managed to flee.According to the officer, there are some OGWs who serve as border guides and use various mobile apps to communicate with their handlers in Pakistan while also giving terrorists logistical support. He claimed that the terrorists were eager to resume their operations in the Reasi area. The SIA is already looking into a case against two terrorists who were detained last year that was filed under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. It conducted the raids in front of an executive magistrate after obtaining court-issued search warrants.The two terrorists, Faisal Ahmad Dar of Pulwama and Talib Hussain Shah of Rajouri, were captured by police after being overcome by the residents of isolated Tukson Dhok in Reasi in July. They turned over two AK assault rifles, a pistol, seven grenades, and a tonne of ammo. Shah was one of four terrorists from the Lashkar-e Taiba (LeT) who were named in a charge sheet that was submitted against them in December of last year. The case was first lodged at the Mahore Police Station of Reasi. According to the SIA’s charge sheet, the inquiry showed that Mohd Qasim and Zia-Ul-Rehman had already fled to Pakistan and were now supplying weapons and explosives that Shah and his friends had amassed using drones.The probe has also shown that Shah had recruited a number of local youths to resurrect terror in the Jammu region’s Chenab Valley and Pir Panjal on the orders of his masters in Pakistan. (Agencies)
