New Delhi/Srinagar, 24 September (IANS) In a major success, Jammu and Kashmir arrested a person accused of providing logistic assistance to the terrorists involved in the Pahalgam attack on 22 April. The arrested person has been identified as Mohammad Kataria.
The arrests took place after a forensic analysis of arms and equipment which were recovered during Operation Mahadev in July this year.
During this operation, the security forces tracked and neutralized three militants who killed 26 people in Pahalgam.
The National Investigation Agency, which is also investigating the case, was allegedly arrested by two people for harassing the terrorists who carried out the attack.
Batkot of Hill Park in Hill Park, Pahgam and Parviz Ahmed Jothar of Bashir Ahmed Jothar revealed the identity of three terrorists involved in the attack.
They are said to have provided food and shelter to the terrorists.
The NIA also arrested a resident of Handwara and questioned him regarding the money going into the attack.
The agency has also investigated 450 phone numbers, including 80 cases being investigated by the agency since 2011.
The agency came to know that a Yasir Hayat was in touch with a suspected Malaysian -based handler Sajad Ahmed Mir and two others from Pakistan.
Hayat was being instructed by Mir to give money to Shafat Wani for the tune of Rs 2 lakh. During his visit to Malaysia, Hayat was in touch with two Pakistanis.
Among all, Wani has received an amount of Rs 9 lakh, which was used to fund terrorist activities.
The NIA said in a statement that it had highlighted a foreign mark of money, which is under investigation.
The NIA investigation highlights a complex network of foreign funding that was connected to accounts in Malaysia.
The money was being routed for the resistance front, which carried out the attack. Indian intelligence agencies along with Nia and Jammu and Kashmir Police have tried to create a detailed dossier on the organization.
This will include recruitment in the organization of funding details, radicalization, training and terror. The Resistance Front is just a proxy of Lashkar-e-Taiba.
It was designed by the ISI to suggest that the Kashmir fight was being fought by the local people. ISI also wanted a counter-protest for Pakistan and Lashkar-e-Tabiba, when the resistance front attacked the Indian soil.
The dosier being prepared by the agencies is also important in terms of thwarting the terrorist funding route that connects Pakistan.
India proposed to corner Pakistan in the Financial Action Task Force and hoped that the country would return to the gray list, as was a few years ago.
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Vicky/PGH