Srinagar: Six months after arresting a senior police officer with a militant commander in Kashmir valley, National Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed charge sheet against him and the other accused in a special NIA court in Jammu and Kashmir.
The NIA has accused the suspended deputy superintendent of Jammu and Kashmir Police Davinder Singh for his association with militant groups in Kashmir and officials of Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi.
The charge sheet names five others including Hizbul Mujahideen militant commander Syed Naveed Mushtaq alias Naveed Babu and Rafi Ahmad Rather, Irfan Shafi Mir, Tanveer Ahmad Wani, a former LoC trader and Syed Irfan Ahmad (brother of Naveed Babu).
Naveed Babu, a resident of Nazneenpora village of Shopian district, was a police constable who deserted the force to join militants in 2017.
A statement of the NIA said that chargesheet was filed under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and the Explosive Substances Act.
On January 11, Jammu and Kashmir police said it arrested Singh with Naveed Babu in a private car driven by Ifran Shafi Mir, on Jammu-Srinagar Highway at Qazigund in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district. Police said Singh was facilitating safe passage to Naveed Babu to Jammu.
According to police, it had seized an AK-47 assault rifle, three pistols, five hand grenades, 174 rounds of AK-47, and 36 rounds of pistol ammunition and other incriminating material from his car.
The case was handed over to NIA which arrested four other accused during the investigation of the case.
"The investigation has revealed that accused were part of a deep-rooted conspiracy hatched by the Pakistan-based terrorist organization Hizb-ul-Mujahideen and Pakistani State Agencies to commit violent acts and to wage war against the Union of India," the NIA statement said.
"The investigation also revealed that accused Irfan Shafi Mir @ Advocate not only met Hizb-ul-Mujahideen leadership in Pakistan but also met Umar Cheema, Ahshan Chaudhary, Sohail Abbas and others of ISI of Pakistan and he was tasked to identify and activate the new hawala channels for transfer of money for sustaining terrorist activities in Kashmir valley,” the statement added.
"Accused Devender Singh was also in touch with certain officials of Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi through secure social media platforms. Investigation revealed that he was being groomed by Pakistani officials for obtaining sensitive information," the investigative agency said.
Last month, a Delhi court had granted bail to Davinder Singh after the Delhi police failed to file chargesheet against him for alleged criminal conspiracy and activities against the interest of the country. However, despite the bail, Singh remained in jail in the case being probed by the NIA.
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