A suspected operative of Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) was arrested in West Bengal's Purba Bardhaman district, and investigators believe he could be part of an ISI-backed network tasked with collecting intelligence on VIPs including BJP leaders, recruiting operatives and laying the groundwork for possible terror activities in the state.
Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist Umer Harris, also known as 'Khargosh', is believed to be in Saudi Arabia after escaping India using a forged passport. An investigation into the inter-state LeT terror module has exposed systemic loopholes and raised concerns about passport issuance processes.
Among the 12 media personnel awarded are the PTI Srinagar Bureau Chief, Inayat Jehangir and PTI video journalist, Jammu Somil Abrol. Other awardees in this category include Avtar Krishan Bhat, Vivek Suri, Sunil Ji Bhat, Dinesh Manhotra, Bilal Ahmad Bhat, Razia Noor, Ishfaq Gowhar Zargar, Syed Khalid Hussain, Sarosh Kafeel, and Neeta Sharma.
The NIA investigators, with the support of forensic and automobile experts, have been able to identify the vehicle used in the blast.
The probe into last year's Pulwama terror strike that left 40 Central Reserve Police Force personnel dead has virtually reached a dead end, with five persons, who were either conspirators or executers of the ghastly attack, being eliminated by security forces in various encounters. However, the case threw unique challenges for the National Investigation Agency, the anti-terror probe agency formed in the aftermath of the Mumbai terror strikes in 2008, as it there is no solid information about the perpetrators or the mastermind behind the attack.
The case posed unique challenges, such as a lot of evidence having blown to pieces in the suicide attack and seven accused being subsequently killed in encounters. However, the central agency used forensic tests including DNA profiling of the meagre evidence to breach the dead ends.
Incidentally, 164 of the total 356 candidates in the fray from the 43 assembly seats of Jammu region got less votes than none of the above, which gives an option to voters to reject all candidates in a constituency.
The judge noted that all the convicts were in conspiracy with each other to wage war against India.
Mudasir Ahmed Khan alias 'Mohd Bhai, an electrician with a graduate degree and a resident of Pulwama, arranged the vehicle and explosives used in the terror strike.
Moderate Hurriyat leaders Abdul Gani Bhat and Lone brothers -- Sajjad and Bilal, who have been critical of terrorists recently, stayed away from Pakistan National Day celebrations where People's Democratic Party leader Maulvi Ifthikhar Hussain Ansari was a surprise guest. Both moderate and hard-line factions of the Hurriyat Conference were represented by their chairmen Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and Syed Ali Shah Geelani respectively at the Pakistan Day celebrations.
Hurriyat Conference leader Bilal Lone and his brother Sajjad broke their silence on the assassination of their father and separatist leader Abdul Gani Loni, 11 years after his death in 2002. The Lone brothers response comes almost a week after former Hurriyat Conference Chairman Abdul Gani Bhat created flutter by saying that Abdul Gani Lone was killed by their own men.
A prominent Kashmiri leader, who was based in London before being deported to Pakistan in 1986, Khan was believed to have been the mastermind in the killing of Ravindra Mhatre, the number two in the Indian Consulate in Birmingham in 1984.
Acting on a credible input about the presence of terrorists in Bijbehara area of the south Kashmir district, security forces launched a cordon and search operation on Tuesday morning.
A bank employee from Rajasthan was shot dead on Thursday by terrorists in Kulgam district of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.
A total of 123 candidates, including seven ministers of Congress-National Conference coalition, eight former ministers and legislators are in fray for the Jammu and Kashmir's first phase of elections scheduled later this month.
Mohammad Iqbal Rather, 25, a resident of Jammu and Kashmir's Budgam, had allegedly facilitated the movement of Muhammad Umar Farooq -- a member of the Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed and the key conspirator in the case -- after he infiltrated into the Indian territory in the Jammu region in April 2018, a spokesperson of the NIA said.
Officials said that 22-year-old Shakir Bashir Magrey, a furniture shop owner and resident of Hajibal, Kakapora in Pulwama, had provided shelter and other logistical assistance to suicide-bomber Adil Ahmad Dar.
Waiz-ul-Islam, 19, of Srinagar's Bagh-e-Mehtab locality and Mohammad Abbass Rather, 32, of Hakripora village in Pulwama district were arrested by the NIA, the official said.
Inspector General of Police Kashmir S P Pani said while a Srinagar resident based in Pakistan had started an online campaign against the slain journalist, three Lashkar militants -- Jatt, Muzaffar Ahmad and Azad Malik carried out the killing.
The 13,500-page chargesheet names Masood Azhar, his brothers -- Abdul Rauf and Ammar Alvi -- and his nephew Mohammed Umer Farooq, who had infiltrated into India in 2018 and was subsequently killed in one of the encounters in South Kashmir.
Where do the big guns stand as counting underway for the Jammu and Kashmir and Jharkhand elections?
'If a hero wanted Mr Rafi to sing for him, naturally it had to be him.' 'Then if it was Dilip Kumar, who is a soft-spoken man, he naturally wanted Talat Mehmood.' 'Raj Kapoor wanted only Mukesh. Now you tell me, where did I stand a chance?'
Bharatiya Janata Party, which has been trying to shrug off the 'communal' tag, has fielded nearly 40 per cent Muslim candidates in Jammu and Kashmir assembly polls under its ambitious 'Mission 44 plus' to wrest power in the state.
