NIA conducts raids in connection with Jan 31 Nagrota encounter

A fortnight after having been handed over the case, the National Investigation Agency on Wednesday raided seven places in South Kashmir's Pulwama district in connection with a probe into an encounter along the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway last month that left three JeM terrorists killed, officials said here.

The officials said the raids were conducted at the residence of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) commander Zahid Ahmad Wani at Karimabad and Sameer Ahmad Dar, a driver by profession and was arrested during Nagrota encounter on January 31.

Dar, cousin of suicide bomber Adil Dar who killed 40 CRPF personnel in a deadly attack last year in Pulwama, was among the five arrested after the incident.

The houses of three overground workers (OGWs) who were arrested from Pulwama in connection with the January 31 encounter -- Suhail Javed Lone, Zahoor Ahmad Khan and Shoiab Manzoor -- were also searched.

Lone, a Jammu student, was the second point of contact for the JeM terrorists in case they failed to meet Sameer Ahmad Dar, who was driving them to the Kashmir Valley in a truck.

The militants were killed in a fierce gunbattle with police at the Ban Toll Plaza on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway on January 31.

A police constable was also injured in the incident.