NIA conducts search operation at Bandipora

Further details are awaited.

In September, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) had carried out searches at 22 locations across five states and the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir in connection with a terror conspiracy case.

According to officials, the searches were conducted at eight locations in Bihar, one each in Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu, two in Uttar Pradesh, and nine in Jammu and Kashmir.Separate NIA teams launched the search operation simultaneously at these locations based on specific actionable intelligence inputs.

Investigators suspected that the network under the scanner was engaged in attempts to foment unrest and destabilise law and order in the country.

In recent months, the NIA has intensified its crackdown on terror funding, recruitment modules, and sleeper cells operating across different regions. Similar nationwide operations have earlier led to the arrest of several suspects allegedly associated with banned organisations and their attempts to radicalise youth through online and offline channels.

The operation was carried out at a time when the central government has repeatedly emphasised its zero-tolerance policy towards terrorism and has directed security agencies to strengthen preventive action against such threats.

Meanwhile, the NIA court in New Delhi on January 14 convicted Kashmiri separatist Aasiya Andrabi and two of her associates, Sofi Fehmida and Nahida Nasreen, in a terror case registered by the agency.

Andrabi is the alleged chief of the women's separatist outfit Dukhtaran-e-Millat.Andrabi was arrested in 2018. The NIA had invoked charges against her under sections related to waging war against the State, promoting enmity between communities, and terror conspiracy under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). Additional Sessions Judge Chander Jit Singh convicted Andrabi and the co-accused. The court will hear arguments on sentencing on January 17. (ANI)