The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed a charge-sheet against Muneeb Hameed Bhat, Junaid Ahmad Mattoo and Umer Rashid Wani who allegedly were trained in Pakistan to carry out terrorist attacks in India on the instructions of Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), an official said. The charge-sheet was filed before a special NIA court in Jammu on Thursday. All three are the residents of Jammu and Kashmir’s Kulgam district.
The NIA official said it was filed under section Ranbir Penal Code and the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). Junaid Mattoo and Umer Wani were killed in separate encounters in J&K in 2017 and 2018, respectively.
“The LeT in Kulgam was persuading youth to join the terror group and organised their travel to Pakistan for terrorist training on the basis of valid travel documents following the recommendation of separatist leaders,” the NIA official said.
Investigations by the NIA has established that LeT terrorist Mattoo persuaded Bhat to join the LeT and go to Pakistan for terrorist training and on the other hand, Wani gave him funds to meet the expenses of his visit to the neighbouring country.
In July-August 2017, Bhat visited Pakistan and was trained on using weapons and “secret social media chat platforms.”
“After returning, he was constantly connected to the LeT handlers in Pakistan and with active militants of Kulgam on secret messaging platforms to carry out the disruptive and terrorist activities in the Valley,” the NIA spokesperson said.
Bhat worked as sleeper cell of the LeT and had intended to join the banned terrorist organisation, the official said. From 2016-2018, many Kashmiri youths were sent by separatist leaders to Pakistan, he added. They were trained in the camps for five to 15 days. After returning, they were initially used as sleeper cells by militant organisations and subsequently recruited for active militancy, the official said.
