The National Investigation Agency (NIA).
Credit: PTI File Photo
After months of painstaking investigations, National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested two people, who had allegedly sheltered terrorists involved in the killings of seven civilians in Dhangri village of Rajouri on January 1 this year.
The NIA probe has further revealed that the killings were executed at the behest of three dreaded Pakistan based Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) militants - Saifullah alias Sajid Jutt, Abu Qatal alias Qatal Sindhi and Mohammad Wasim.
The arrested persons have been identified as Nisar Ahmed alias Haji Nisar and Mushtaq Hussain. “Incidentally, both the accused were lodged at Central Jail, Kot Bhalwal, Jammu, in another case registered at Police Station Gursai, Mendhar, Poonch,” an official of the NIA said.
“The duo had provided logistics support to the terrorists for more than two months and sheltered them in a hideout, which was constructed by them on the directions of Sajid Jutt, Qatal Sindhi, and Muhammad Qasim,” he said.
It is not known whether the militants involved in Dhangri killings massacre have been killed or are still operating in Rajouri-Poonch or south Kashmir. The possibility that they might have escaped to Pakistan after the killings has also not been ruled out.
The NIA revelations came at a time when kin of Dhangri victims, including Saroj Bala who lost her two sons, in the incident threatened protests from Monday demanding immediate arrest/killing of the terrorists involved in killing.
The NIA statement said its officials camped for quite some time in the hilly terrain of Rajouri, Poonch and Reasi districts of Jammu region and examined a large number of suspicious entities. The team later zeroed in on the two accused persons who had provided the hideout to the killers.
The case was initially registered as FIR no. 01/2023 at Rajouri Police Station on January 1 and later the NIA took over investigations and re-registered the case on January 13.
Three major terror incidents rocked Rajouri and Poonch belt this year including Dhangri killings on January 1, Bhatta Durrian at Mendhar in which five Army personnel lost their lives on April 20 and Kandi forests in Rajouri district in which five para commandos were killed on May 5.