Today National Investigation Agency carried out raids in Baramulla district and other areas of Jammu Kashmir. These raids were carried out in five places across the district in connection to the case involving DSP Devender Singh. Apart from Baramulla, other areas like Nowgam in Srinagar are also among the places raided.

As per a 3064 pages chargesheet filed by the NIA in August under the UAP Act, Devender Singh had been tasked by his Pakistani handler to set up contact in the Ministry of External Affairs. He had been providing key supports and inputs to the banned terror outfit Hizbul Mujahideen. The chargesheet which was filed by the NIA before a special court in Jammu, had also detailed that the former DSP had been posted in sensitive anti-hijacking units in the J&K Police. During that time, it is now known that he had remained in constant touch with his handlers in the Pakistan high commission. Today’s raids come in a crucial operational follow-up to the chargesheet filed in August.

It is important to note that Devender Singh was named by Afzal Guru, the prime accused of the 2001 parliament attack carried out by the militants under the Pakistan based terror outfits- Lashkat-e-taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed. It was said by Afzal Guru that Devender Singh was a key go-between in the 2001 attack. In January 2020, Devender Singh was caught while travelling with two terrorists along with AK47s en-route to New Delhi on the Srinagar- Jammu highway. Cases were registered against him in the Arms Act, Explosives Act and UAP Act. Mention of his name by Afzal Guru and discovery of his links with Hizbul Mujahideen had come as a shock to the security establishment, which had since then placed this high profile case under the NIA.

National investigation agency which carried out the raids was established in 2009 under the NIA Act 2008, in response to the dire scenarios faced by India like the 26/11 attacks of 2008. It has its own courts in various cities under the sections 11 & 22 of the NIA act 2008, for fast-track proceedings of the cases especially the ones with national security implications. The special courts of NIA are presided over by judges appointed by GOI on the recommendation of the chief justice of the high court of the state where the particular NIA court is established.

The recent raids in the five places in Baramulla were carried out by NIA along with CRPF and J&K Police units. The raids were carried out to dig out further information on the whereabouts and other details about Naveed Babu, a militant of Hizbul Mujahideen. Raids were carried out in the house of Ghulam Rasool Waza in Baramulla. Waza, as per sources, is a retired government employee of the health department. House of a former Sarpanch, Tariq Ahmed, who was arrested last year in a drug peddling case has also been raided. In a separate raid in Nowgam area in Srinagar, house of Tafazul Parimo, another suspect, was also searched. As per initial reports from the search operations at Waza’s and Parimo’s residences, a raid is being carried out by the combined team in Peerbagh as well.