NIA takes control of Kokernag attack case, unraveling deeper conspiracy

Jammu:  Jammu and Kashmir government has transferred the investigation of the fatal terror attack in Kokernag to the National Investigation Agency (NIA). The attack had claimed the lives of four security personnel, including Colonel Manpreeet Singh and Major Aashish Dhonchak of the 19 Rashtriya Rifles, as well as J&K police DySP Humayun Muzammil Bhat.

Following the Ministry of Home Affairs' notification, the NIA took charge of the case and registered it under FIR No. RC-04/2023/NIA/JMU at the Jammu Police Station of the agency. The FIR includes sections 302 and 307 of the IPC, 7, 25, and 27 of the Arms Act, and sections 16, 18, 19, 20, 23, 38, and 39 of UAPA. The agency will initiate a detailed investigation into the terror attack that occurred on September 13, claiming the lives of three senior officials from the Indian Army and Jammu Kashmir Police.

Sources revealed that the decision to involve the NIA was made as concrete links emerged, suggesting a broader conspiracy. The encounter resulted in the killing of top Lashkar Commander Uzair Khan by security forces. "The presence of foreign terrorists in this attack was never ruled out, and the larger conspiracy needs to be probed, as Uzair was also a senior commander of Lashkar and is believed to be in touch with other top commanders across the border," added the source.

Notably, NIA Jammu Police Station has registered four cases this year, two of which involve a deadly terror attack in Dhangri, Rajouri. These cases, titled 'Killing of innocent people in Rajouri District, J&K by unknown terrorists' and 'Killing of innocent people in IED blast by unknown terrorist under PS-Dhangi, J&K,' investigate Pakistan's larger conspiracy to target the Hindu community in Jammu and incite communal violence in the region. The NIA had previously arrested two terrorists, Haji Nisar Ahmad and Mushtaq Hussain, actively involved in the Dhangri terror attack.

The third case under NIA's probe relates to the killing of Inspector Masroor Ali, a Jammu and Kashmir Police official shot by terrorists while playing cricket in Srinagar's Eidgah ground on October 29. The case, registered under FIR No. RC-03/2023/NIA/JMU, is titled 'Firing by unknown terrorists equipped with arms/ammunition upon Inspector Masroor Ali' at Jammu Police Station.