NIA raids 11 locations of JeM men, separatist in J&K

New Delhi/Srinagar, Feb 27 (IANS) The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday said it searched 11 places of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) militants and separatist leaders in connection with the Pulwama terror attack and terror-funding.

An NIA spokesperson in Delhi said the houses searched included those of Mudassir Ahmad Khan and Sajjad Bhat of JeM.

Bhat had provided his Maruti Eeco car to the JeM suicide bomber Adil Ahmed Dar who carried out the February 14 suicide bombing that killed 40 CRPF troopers, the agency said.

Searches were also carried out at the houses of active overground workers of JeM in Tral, Awantipora and Pulwama areas in south Kashmir where incriminating materials including diaries containing coded writings were seized, the official said.

The NIA registered a case on February 20 to probe the Pulwama terror attack.

Also searched were houses of three separatist leaders of south Kashmir -- Mohammad Shaban Dar, Shawkat Maulvi and Yasmine Raza -- in connection with a terror funding case registered in May 2017.

"We have seized documents related to terror funding, coded messages and jehadi literature from their houses," he said.

Also found were incriminating documents including property details, documents relating to financial transactions, electronic devices, mobile phones and SIM cards.

The NIA was assisted by the police and Central Reserve Police Forces (CRPF).

Similar raids took place at seven places on Tuesday including at the residence of separatist leaders like Yasin Malik, Shabbir Shah, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Mohammad Ashraf Khan, Masarat Alam, Zaffar Akbar Bhat and Naseem Geelani, son of Hurriyat hardliner Sayeed Ali Shah Geelani.