Jammu NIA court dismisses bail plea of 20-yr-old Pulwama accused to undertake NEET

Refusing bail, Jammu's special NIA court on Thursday, dismissed Pulwama terror attack accused -  Waiz Ul Islam's plea. He had filed a bail plea to appear in the upcoming  NEET (National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test). The NTA will hold the national-level entrance exam on September 13, inspite of several state government's approaching the SC seeking a stay.

Pulwama terror attack accused JeM operative files bail plea to appear for NEET exam

Who is Waiz-Ul islam?

The 20-year-old Waiz Ul Islam was named as one of the 19 accused by NIA in its charge sheet for the Pulwama terror attack which claimed the lives of 40 CRPF soldiers in 2019. Reports state that Waiz was an associate of the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and allegedly played a key role in ordering explosives from e-commerce sites for the attack. He was arrested by the NIA in March.

Opposing his bail plea, the NIA said that Waiz had chosen Srinagar as his exam centre, where he wished to appear for NEET along with other students. The NIA highlighted that there could be an unexpected law and order situation or Waiz could try to escape. Not wanting to take such a risk, NIA has opposed his bail plea in the court.

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NIA's Pulwama chargesheet

On August 25, NIA filed a 13,500-page chargesheet in February 14, 2019 Pulwama terror attack and named several Pakistani nationals as accused in the case. Apart from Waiz-ul-Islam, others named in the charge sheet include Pakistani nationals Rouf Asgar Alvi, Ammar Alvi, Mohd Ismail, Muhammad Umar Farooq, Mohd Kamran Ali, and Qari Yasir. Next hearing is on September 15.

Out of the 19 names in the charge sheet, 7 are said to be in NIA's custody, another 7 are said to have been encountered by the forces, and 5 are said to be in Pakistan. The 7 JeM operatives under NIA's custody include Mohammad Abbas Rather, Tariq Ahmad Shah, Mohammad Iqbal Rather,  Shakir Bashir Magrey, Waiz-ul-Islam, Insha Jan, and Bilal Ahmed Kuchey. The Pulwama mastermind - Masood  Azhar and his family have been reported missing from Pakistan Army's custody since February.

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Pulwama Attacks 

On February 14, 2019, a convoy of vehicles carrying security personnel on the Jammu Srinagar National Highway was attacked by a vehicle-borne suicide bomber at Lethpora (near Awantipora) in the Pulwama district, Jammu and Kashmir, India. The attack resulted in the deaths of 40 CRPF personnel and the attacker. The responsibility for the attack was claimed by the Pakistan-based terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed. The main conspirators of the module have since then been terminated by the Army since then.

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