Money put in Pakistan bank accounts of JeM commander before Pulwama blast: NIA

 

NEW DELHI: Mohammed Umar Farooq, the nephew of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar, had received Rs 10 lakh in his bank accounts in Pakistan to execute the Pulwama terror attack in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed in February last year, the NIA has said in its chargesheet.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe has shown that Rs 10 lakh in Pakistani currency was credited into three accounts of Farooq, the main accused in the suicide attack case who was later killed in an encounter with security forces, in Allied Bank and Mezaan Bank in that country days before the incident, officials said.

They said the money was deposited by top leadership of the terror group JeM between January and February 2019.

The militants had spent around Rs six lakh on procurement of explosives and the Maruti Eeco car used in the attack, the NIA said in its chargesheet filed on Tuesday before a special court in Jammu.

A major chunk of the fund, about Rs 2.80 lakh, was used to procure around 200 kilograms of explosives including ammonium nitrate to trigger a massive car-laden IED attack on the CRPF convoy moving from Jammu to Srinagar on February 14, 2019, they said.

The 200 kilograms of explosives comprised of a lethal concoction of RDX brought from Pakistan, gelatin sticks procured by Mudasir Ahmad, four kilograms of Aluminium powder bought on Amazon by accused Wazi Ul Islam and Calcium Ammonium Nitrate.

The IED was fitted into the Eeco car in two containers weighing 160 kilogram and 40 kilograms to trigger the blast, the NIA said.

Charge sheeted accused Shakir Bashir allegedly collected the explosives — RDX, Gelatin sticks, Aluminium power and Calcium-Ammonium Nitrate — and stocked them at his house for making the IED, the agency said.

The terrorists had spent another Rs 2.5 lakh on purchasing and modifying the car to be used in the attack which was also parked in the front-yard of Shakir Bashir’s house, it said.

Some money was spent on miscellaneous expenses too, which included purchase of containers for fabricating the Improvised Explosive Devices, officials said.

The NIA probe has shown three bank accounts of Farooq, the main perpetrator, who received the money from January 2019 till February of the same year.

The agency had filed a 13,800-page chargesheet against 19 accused persons in an NIA Special Court at Jammu in connection with last year’s militant attack on the CRPF convoy at Lethpura, Pulwama, they said.

Jaish-e-Mohammad militant Adil Ahmad Dar, who was driving the car laden with explosives, had rammed it into the convoy killing 40 CRPF personnel and grievously injuring eight others.

“The investigation has revealed that Pulwama attack was a result of well-planned criminal conspiracy hatched by Pakistan-based leadership of terrorist organisation Jaish-e-Mohammad.

The JeM leaders have been sending their cadres to the terrorist training camps of Al-Qaida-Taliban-JeM and Haqqani-JeM in Afghanistan for receiving training in explosives and other militant tactics,” the NIA said in the chargesheet.

The agency said the main accused Umar Farooq was trained in Afghanistan for explosives. He visited Afghanistan in 2016-17 and had infiltrated into India through the International Border at Jammu-Samba Sector in April, 2018, it said.

Farooq took over as the Jaish-e-Mohammad Commander of Pulwama.

“Accused Shakir Bashir, Insha Jan, Peer Tariq Ahmad Shah and Bilal Ahmad Kuchey provided all logistics and harboured the JeM militants in their houses,” the NIA has said.

Bashir allegedly did reconnaissance of the movement and deployment of security forces on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway.

A propaganda video clip of Mohammad Umar Farooq, Sameer Dar and Adil Dar was allegedly prepared at Insha Jan’s house which was released immediately after the suicide attack, it said.

The militants had prepared the car for the attack by fitting it with the IED on February 6, 2019 but suspended their nefarious plans because of heavy snowfall which led to closing of the National Highway for vehicular movement, the agency said.

They attacked the convoy on February 14, 2019, when the National Highway reopened, they said.

Bashir drove Adil Ahmad Dar till the National Highway, after which Dar drove the car and carried out the blast, it alleged.
Damage to the tune of Rs 32.90 lakh was caused to public property, the probe agency said.

The NIA found that JeM leadership consisting of Masood Azhar, Rouf Asgar and Ammar Alvi alias Chacha alias Chota Masood handled the operation by continuously giving directions and guidance to the Pakistani JeM infiltrators before and after the attack.(PTI)