NIA raids 19 locations in country to probe terror conspiracy hatched by Pak-based JeM

NEW DELHI: The National Investigation Agency conducted searches at 19 locations across the country on Thursday as part of its probe into a case of terror conspiracy by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad.

The searches were carried out in Assam, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Jammu and Kashmir, the federal probe agency said.

Several incriminating documents and electronic devices, including mobile phones, pen drives, CDs and hard disks were seized, it said.

According to a statement by the NIA, the searches were conducted at the premises of suspects/close aides of Sheikh Sultan Salah Uddin Ayubi, a Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) operative who was arrested on account of his incriminatory role in the case.

Ayubi was taken into custody in October this year for disseminating propaganda material associated with JeM, and radicalising and recruiting youth into the Jamaat outfit inspired by JeM, the statement said.

The locations at which the searches were conducted were Goalpara in Assam; Aurangabad, Mumbai and Amravati in Maharashtra; Jhansi, Bareilly, Deoband and Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh; Sitamarhi in Bihar, Hooghly in West Bengal; Baramulla, Reasi, Budgam and Anantnag in Jammu and Kashmir; Dungarpur in Rajasthan; and Mehsana in Gujarat, it said. (PTI)