The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Saturday said it has attached four residential houses and seized cash in an alleged narco-terrorism case in Kupwara district.
An NIA spokesperson said it attached the immovable properties, including a double-storey house of a suspect, Afaq Ahmad Wani; a single-storey house of another suspect, Muneer Ahmad Pandey, the house of Saleem Andrabi and the double-storeyed house of Islam-ul-Haq.
“The properties belonging to the four accused have been attached in tehsil Handwara of district Kupwara by the NIA, which has also seized a total of ₹2.27 crore in cash under Section 25 of the UA(P) Act,” the NIA said.
The NIA termed the move as “a major step towards dismantling the funding networks that are fuelling terrorism in Kashmir”.
A total of 12 suspects have so far been arrested in the case and the NIA chargesheeted 15 individuals, the spokesperson said.
The case related to the use of the proceeds of narcotic drugs to fund violent terror activities by Lashkar-e-Taiba and Hizbul Mujahideen operating in the Handwara-Kupwara region.
“The case was registered following the recovery of a black bag and a large number of Indian currency notes of 500 denomination during checking of vehicles in Langate area of Handwara. The seizure was made from a white Creta car without a registration number,” it said.
The NIA said the preliminary questioning of the car’s driver, Abdul Momin Peer, had led to the revelations about the narco-terror nexus, which had sparked detailed investigation by the NIA.
During the initial searches of the houses of various suspects, 21 kg of heroin was seized and incriminating material, including large sums of cash, found.
