Arrested Jammu and Kashmir DySP Davinder Singh was “being groomed by Pakistani officials for obtaining sensitive information” and had helped Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HuM) terrorists obtain weapons from across the border, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has told a special court in Jammu.
It has also said one of the accused arrested in the case was tasked by Pakistan’s High Commission in Delhi to create unrest in the Valley in the wake of abrogation of Article 370.
The agency on Monday filed its first chargesheet in the case, about six months after Singh was arrested along with HuM terrorist Naveed Babu as the two travelled together from Srinagar to Jammu on January 11. The two of them are among the six chargesheeted.
Claiming that Singh was well-entrenched in the HuM network, providing its operatives shelter, weapons and logistical support at the behest of Pakistan, the NIA chargesheet says, “Accused Davinder 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 chargesheet claims to have cogent evidence that HuM terrorists “were obtaining weapons and ammunitions from across the border with the help of arms smugglers and accused Davinder Singh. These weapons were later used for terrorist activities.”
Apart from Singh and HuM district commander for Shopian and Ganderbal Syed Naveed Mushtaq alias Naveed Babu, the chargesheet names HuM operative Rafi Ahmed Rather (the third person captured in Singh’s car on January 11), former LoC trader Tanveer Ahmed Wani, advocate Irfan Shafi Mir, and Naveed’s brother Syed Irfan Ahmad. Wani, Mir and Irfan were arrested by the NIA later.
“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 chargesheet says.
As part of the larger conspiracy, the chargesheet names HuM chief Syed Salahuddin, HuM deputy chief Amir Khan, HuM financial head Nazar Mehmood and HuM’s operational head Khursheed Alam. It says that they, “along with Pakistani establishment”, are extending support to the HuM men based in Jammu & Kashmir.
According to the chargesheet, Mir had gone to Pakistan and met not only the HuM leadership but also “Umar Cheema, Ahshan Chaudhary, Sohail Abbas and others of ISI of Pakistan”. The NIA claims Mir was tasked with identifying and activating new hawala channels for transfer of money for terrorist activities in Kashmir.
“Investigation also revealed that certain officials of Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi were in constant touch with Irfan Shafi Mir who was provided with funds to organize seminars in J&K to mobilize the masses against Government of India. Irfan Shafi Mir also used to receive instructions and money from Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi and also facilitated the visa applications for number of Kashmiris for their visit to Pakistan,” the chargesheet says.
Naveed is accused of carrying out terror activities following the abrogation of Article 370. “Investigation has revealed that ex-police Constable Naveed Babu had deserted Police force along with certain weapons and was responsible for various killings, including incidents of terror in which labourers and truck drivers were killed after the abrogation of Article 370 from J&K,” says the chargesheet.
It says Naveed had also made efforts to recruit “gullible Muslim youth to join cadre of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen”, and had received funds from LoC traders, particularly Wani, former president of the LoC Traders Association. In this, traders based in Pakistan occupied Kashmir were helping, the NIA has said.
On the links between Singh and Naveed, the agency says that in February 2019, “in order to shield Naveed Babu from the heightened surveillance of security agencies”, Singh, then a serving DySP of J&K Police, along with Mir and Syed Irfan Ahmad, had arranged safe shelter for him and his associate in Jammu.
“Accused Davinder Singh used his own vehicle for the movement of HM terrorists and also assured them help in procuring weapons. Investigation has further brought on record that the Pakistani establishment has been devising all possible ways and means to fund, arm and sustain the terrorist activities of the banned terrorist organization Hizbul Mujahideen,” the NIA has said.
Singh, suspended from service after his arrest on January 11, had been apprehended at Al-Stop Naka in Qazigund by a team led by J&K Police DIG Atul Goyal, when travelling with Naveed and Rather in his i20 car.
Once lauded for his ground network and for having effected multiple successful operations against terrorists in the Valley, Singh is believed to have fallen victim to the lure of money and got involved with the HuM.
