New Delhi: A development that could further strengthen India's fight against terrorism, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has set up a special cell to handle and investigate the Over Ground Workers (OGW) issue in Jammu and Kashmir.
"OGW is becoming a major concern in our fight against Pakistan-backed terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir. Setting up such a special unit would definitely help the security agencies in handling the issue," said a senior official privy to the development. NIA's special unit to look after OGW was set up following instructions from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
Of late, OGW has become a major cause of concern for the security agencies as the investigation has revealed that people from all quarters including government officials, civilians, and others have been influenced by terror organizations to work for them. Since January this year, as many as 170 OGW belonging to different terror outfits have been arrested by the security agencies.
"Security agencies arrest OGW on a regular basis for their involvement of providing information as well as ferry terrorists to different locations," the official said. On many occasions, the OGW has been found with arms and ammunition belonging to different terrorist organizations.
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"It has been found that terrorists try to involve transport officials including drivers of private vehicles to ferry arms and ammunition," the official said. On many occasions, several truck drivers were also apprehended while transporting terrorists or carrying their weapons. It is worth mentioning that earlier in February, the State Investigation Agency (SIA) arrested as many as 10 OGWs, associated with Jaish e Mohammad (JeM), from different locations in Kashmir.
On April 28, security agencies nabbed three overground workers from the Kupwara district who had been smuggling weapons from across the border. In the recent past, NIA has also arrested a top cop Arvind Digvijay Negi from Shimla for his involvement in providing security information to the Lashkar e Toiba (LeT).
