NIA files charge sheet in case of weapons loot from ex-PDP MLA's house

The NIA Thursday filed a charge sheet in connection with a case of loot of weapons, including seven AK series assault rifles, from the residence of a former PDP MLA in Jammu and Kashmir.

The agency named Adil Bashir Sheikh, a special police officer (SPO) deployed at the Srinagar residence of Wachi MLA Aijaz Ahmad Mir, and Rafique Ahmad Bhat, a militant, as it filed the prosecution complaint before a special court in Jammu.

They have been charged under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and the Arms Act, the agency said. Seven AK rifles, a pistol and some other ammunition were looted from the MLA's house on September 28 last year.

The NIA took over the case from state police.

A National Investigation Agency spokesperson said the two, along with Yawar Ahmad Dar, "stole the weapons from government quarter allotted to the former PDP MLA while he was away and his security guards had gone to their houses leaving the weapons behind".

"SPO Sheikh entered the house on the pretext of cleaning it while the other two waited outside in a Maruti Alto car. Thereafter, they decamped with the weapons and ammunition and fled towards Achan village and hid the weapons in a field. After committing the offence, all the three joined the ranks of Hizbul Mujahideen, a banned terror outfit," the spokesperson said in a statement.

?During probe, the spokesperson said, the role of Syed Naveed Babu of Shopian and Hizbul commander Riyaz Naikoo alias Mohammad Bin Qasim came to the fore for radicalising and training the three accused.

While Bhat was arrested by the NIA last December from Pulwama, Dar and another militant Abid Manzoor Magray were killed by security forces in separate encounters in the Kashmir Valley early this year while Naikoo continues to be on their radar.