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The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has told a Delhi court that its investigation in a terror funding case was delayed due to the law and order situation in Jammu and Kashmir following the death of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
In its submission before the court on March 11, 2026, the agency stated that certain investigative steps in Kashmir could not be carried out due to protests and unrest that erupted after the Iranian leader's death in late February. The NIA said that it was unable to conduct "pointing out" procedures in the Valley, during which the accused are taken to specific locations to identify places where arms and ammunition were allegedly concealed. According to the agency, the prevailing law and order situation and protests following the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made it difficult to safely carry out these field investigations. The submission was made during the production of two accused, Tufail Ahmad Bhat and Zameer Ahmad Ahangar, who were arrested on February 25, 2026, in connection with the case. According to the NIA, the two accused are allegedly part of a larger conspiracy to wage war against India by procuring and supplying weapons for terrorist activities. During interrogation, the agency claimed that Zameer Ahmad Ahangar had been in contact with a foreign handler linked to a terrorist organisation through social media platforms. The agency also informed the court that technical delays have further slowed the investigation. It stated that duplicate SIM cards of the accused persons' Kashmir-based mobile numbers are yet to be received from telecom service providers, which has delayed the extraction and analysis of their social media accounts and digital evidence. Seeking further time for investigation, the NIA requested the court to grant an additional 10 days of police custody of the accused. The agency said it needs the extended custody to extract social media data in the presence of the accused, confront them with financial transactions that have surfaced during the probe, and collect biological, handwriting and signature samples as permitted by the Magistrate court. The NIA also plans to confront the accused with co-accused persons and witnesses as part of efforts to uncover the larger conspiracy behind the alleged terror activities. The court had earlier granted the agency 10 days of police custody of the accused, which ended on March 11. Medical reports from Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital have declared both accused fit for further interrogation. (ANI)
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