Srinagar, Jul 29:
The NIA said it arrested a member of the banned Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) on Monday in a case related to a conspiracy by the outfit’s leadership to strengthen its base and organise terrorist acts in India. Muzaffar Bhat alias Muzaffar Ahmad Bhat (25), a resident of Tral in Pulwama district, was arrested from Central Jail at Kot Bhalwal in Jammu where he was detained under the Public Safety Act (PSA), the National Investigating Agency (NIA) said. Bhat was produced before Special Court NIA, New Delhi against a production warrant which granted nine days’ custody of the accused to the agency. “Investigation has disclosed that Muzzaffar Bhat @ Muzaffar Ahmad Bhat was in regular contact with the main accused Muddassir Ahmad (now dead) over WhatsApp during the relevant period,” the agency said. The case, registered in March this year, pertains to a criminal conspiracy by top leadership of JeM, based in Pakistan, to strengthen bases of the outfit in India, by recruiting persons for carrying out terrorist acts, it said. The NIA had earlier arrested three accused — Sajjad Ahmed Khan, Bilal Mir and Tanveer Ahmed Ganie — in this case who are now in judicial custody.