Houses of a BJP sarpanch and an active Hizb militant were searched

To track the money trail of recently arrested Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Davinder Singh and crack the web of his supporters, three National Investigation Agency (NIA) teams on Sunday raided multiple locations in south Kashmir’s Shopian and also searched the house of a BJP-affiliated sarpanch.

Official sources said three NIA teams with around 20 members from Delhi, investigating the DSP’s links with the Hizbul Mujahideen and its ‘commander’ Syed Naveed Mushtaq alias Babu, raided the houses of Babu and his close associate Khursheed Ahmad Sheikh in Shopian.

Babu’s brother, the NIA investigation suggested, booked an air ticket for the DSP in 2018. Around ₹12 lakh was seized from the house of the police officer in a raid earlier.

Also read: Davinder Singh helped Hizb militant for money: official

Sources said Sheikh, whose house was searched for many hours, is believed to be close to policeman-turned-militant Babu and “has helped the Hizb ‘commander’ in stealing four rifles of the J&K police in Budgam in 2017”.

Sources said the NIA had detained and questioned Sheikh’s brother Tariq Sheikh.

Regarding the raid on the house of sarpanch Tariq Mir, associated with the BJP, an official said: “It was a search operation based on a tip-off. Mir was not arrested during the operation.”

The NIA teams also raided the houses of ‘advocate’ Ifran Mir and Hizb militant Rafi Ahmad. Both were arrested along with the DSP and Babu on January 11 on the Srinagar-Jammu highway when the police officer was ferrying them in a private vehicle outside the Valley.

One active Hizb militant’s house was also searched and some documents seized. There were no reports of seizing any weapons during these raids.

Sources said the NIA teams had seized several bank documents, mobile phones and other electronic gadgets.

Nagrota attack: Brother of Jaish ‘commander’ held

The J&K police on Sunday arrested one person from Pulwama in connection with the Nagrota toll plaza attack, in which three Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) militants were killed on Friday.

Police sources identified the arrested person as Sohaib Manzoor, younger brother of Zahid Manzoor Wani.

According to the police record, Wani is a local commander of the JeM and became an active militant in May, 2017.

The arrest was made following the questioning of two locals arrested from the truck in which the three JeM militants were being ferried on Friday.

4 injured in grenade attack

In Srinagar, two CRPF jawans and two civilians were injured in a grenade explosion in the commercial hub Lal Chowk on Sunday afternoon.

A police spokesman said unidentified militants alighted in the busy area and attacked a CRPF position.