The National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested one more suspect, who has been in jail since 2018, for his alleged role in the 2019 Pulwama terror attack when 40 CRPF personnel were killed by a car borne suicide bomber.
The accused identified as Mohd. Iqbal Rather, 25, is a resident of Budgam in Jammu and Kashmir.
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“Mohd. Iqbal Rather had facilitated the movement of Muhammad Umar Farooq, the JeM [Jaish-e-Mohammad] terrorist and a key conspirator in this case, after he infiltrated into the Indian territory in Jammu region in April 2018 from the National Highway near the International border to South Kashmir. Mohd. Umar Farooq, along with others, had assembled the IED [Improvised Explosive Device] used in the attack,” the NIA said in a statement.
Rather has been in judicial custody since September, 2018 in another JeM-related case investigated by the NIA. He was produced by the jail authorities before the NIA Special Court, Jammu, on Thursday and was sent to seven days police custody.
“Initial examination has revealed that Mohd. Iqbal Rather was in constant touch with Pakistan-based leadership of the Jaish-e-Mohammad and was in communication with them over secure messaging applications,” the NIA said. The communication took place before his arrest in 2018.
It said he was part of the “transportation module” of the JeM. With this, the NIA has so far arrested six accused persons in the Pulwama case.
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