2019 Pulwama attack: NIA arrests key JeM aide as forces go all-out against terrorism in J&K

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday arrested one more accused in connection with the Pulwama attack case in which 40 CRPF jawans were killed in an IED blast on February 14, 2019. The accused, named Mohd Iqbal Rather, had facilitated the movement of Mohammad Umar Farooq, the JeM terrorist and a key conspirator in this case. So far, 6 people have been arrested in the case.

Mohd Iqbal Rather, 25, is a resident of Futlipura, Charar-e-Shareef, Budgam, Jammu and Kashmir, read a statement.

The accused had been undergoing judicial custody since September 2018 in another Jaish-e-Mohammed related case investigated by NIA. He was produced by the Jail authorities before the NIA Special Court, Jammu today and was taken into seven days NIA custody for interrogation.

The statement further noted that initial examination has revealed that Mohd Iqbal Rather was in constant touch with Pakistan-based leadership of Jaish-e-Mohammed and was in communication with them over secure messaging applications. Rather was part of the ‘transportation module’ of Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist organisation.

With his arrest, NIA has so far arrested six accused persons in this case. Further investigation is in progress.