Police on Thursday carried out raids at at-least five locations in Srinagar, Pulwama and Budgam districts in connection with purported online threat issued to Valley-based journalists.
The houses which were searched include that of journalist Showkat A Motta in Srinagar, Khaksar Nadeeb Adnan (Advocate) in Srinagar, Haji Hayat’s House in Pampore and office (Kashmirreader) in Srinagar, Ishfaq Reshi in Budgam, Asif Dar (based abroad) and Saqib Hussain Magloo in Srinagar.
The officer said that the searches were carried from ‘leads’ from earlier raids. Some have detained for questioning, the officer said.
The officer said that those on whose houses searches were carrier earlier are being summoned every day for examination.
On November 19, Police carried searches at 12 locations in the valley in connection with the case registered at Police Station Sharigarhi.
Earlier The New Indian reported Jammu and Kashmir Police have launched an in-depth investigation into threats to more than 20 prominent journalists allegedly by former scribe Mukhtar Baba, currently based in Turkey, at the behest of terror elements.
The threats have led to the resignation of five journalists from Rising Kashmir newspaper as fear mounted in the press.
An assessment based on inputs received from central intelligence agencies suggests that Baba visits Pakistan frequently through Turkey and is behind propagating a false narrative, grooming youngsters in Kashmir for terrorism under the banner of The Resistance Front (TRF), an offshoot of Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT).
It said that Sajjad Gul who is originally from Srinagar is one of the main operatives of the TRF and is also involved in issuing threats. The agency has identified six persons who are in touch with Baba and are providing information to him.
Authorities have also identified more than six people including four journalists and two government employees on the basis of evidence. They have recommended a mission-based approach to expansively identify these elements, and collect evidence by way of mapping their properties, their telecommunication usage, and their travel within the country and abroad to provide an effective response to the challenge.
Baba, originally a resident of Srinagar, shifted to Nowgam in Anantnag before escaping to Ankara, the capital city of Turkey. He has built a network of informers within journalists and prepared his hit list based on their inputs.
“He remained affiliated with terror outfit Hizbullah in the 1990s and was shunted out from the outfit after he was found involved in selling 40 AK series rifles belonging to another terrorist organisation,” a dossier about Baba read.