Pakistan terror operatives infiltrating through Jammu now: NIA

The agency has decided to file a report after investigating into the latest Jhajjar Kotli encounter case in which the interrogation of the accused gave insights into the new terror routes. 

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Pakistan terror operatives infiltrating through Jammu now: NIA
Terror groups are now exploring infiltration routes in the 198-km-long international border (IB) and Line of Control (LoC) in the Jammu region.(Photo: REUTERS/Mukesh Gupta)

In Short

  • Arrest of terrorists trying to infiltrate led to the unearthing of the routes used by Pakistan operatives
  • They told NIA a route near Heeranagar sector has been used by militants a dozen times
  • NIA report is being corroborated by intelligence agencies

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) will soon be submitting a report to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on the new infiltration routes taken by Pakistani terrorists.

A detailed report is being prepared that will reveal the new modus operandi of Pakistan-based terror operatives, indicating how the terror groups are now exploring infiltration routes in the 198-km-long international border (IB) and Line of Control (LoC) in the Jammu region.

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The agency has decided to file a report after investigating into the latest Jhajjar Kotli encounter case in which the interrogation of the accused gave insights into the new terror routes.

As per sources, both Lashkar and Jaish terrorists have decided to use the Jammu route with the backing of Pakistan ISI and army.

While Jaish operatives have the backing of Hafiz Saeed's Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), Lashkar operatives are also increasingly using the route to infiltrate without getting detected. With increased vigilance at the LoC in Kashmir Valley, NIA believes that IB routes are being used by militants to regularly infiltrate through Jammu region.

Sources said that the chance encounters with and the subsequent arrest of terrorists on their way from Jammu to Srinagar in a truck (number JK03-1476) on the morning of September 12, trying to infiltrate in the area between Kathua and Sambha, has led to the unearthing of the routes used by Pakistan operatives.

Security forces were shot in the arm when the two accused, driver Riaz Ahmed and his accomplice Mohammed Iqbal, opened fire.

During interrogation by NIA, Riaz Ahmed and Mohammed Iqbal, who were ferrying the militants to the Kashmir Valley, told the police that the militants had infiltrated through the IB. They also said that the particular route near Heeranagar sector has been used by militants a dozen times.

Instead of taking a route from North Kashmir, terrorist were being pushed through the Jammu sector, with trucks and men waiting across the border to receive them.

In the 2016 Nagrota terror case too, the main accused Ashiq Hussain "Baba" received Jaish Fidayeen operatives at Heeranagar Bridge after a phone call from Pakistan.

The NIA report is being corroborated by intelligence agencies. Though a larger area is under BSF (Border Security Force) domain, sources say BSF has on more than one occasion denied infiltration of terrorists through the IB.

Despite surveillance by security forces of the IB, terrorists are managing to slip through. The Pakistani operatives are taking a longer route to enter the Kashmir Valley. The new modus operandi also points to a well-oiled machinery where weapons and logistics are also being provided by local over ground workers.

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