Pulwama terror attack: NIA nabs Jaish operative who facilitated suicide blast

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday arrested an operative of Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed for his alleged involvement in the Pulwama terror attack, which had claimed lives of 40 CRPF personnel.

The arrest comes a day after the agency claimed that it was very close to a breakthrough in the case.

The accused has been identified as Shakir Bashir Magrey, an overground worker of the terror group. The 22-year-old furniture shop owner had provided shelter and other logistical assistance to the suicide-bomber Adil Ahmad Dar, the NIA said in a statement.

According to the probe agency, the accused revealed that he had harboured Dar and Pakistani terrorist Mohammad Umar Farooq in his house from late 2018 till the attack in February 2019, and assisted them in the preparation of the Improvised Explosive Device (IED).

During his initial interrogation, the NIA said, the accused revealed that on several occasions, he collected and delivered arms, ammunition, cash and other explosive material to various JeM terrorists including those involved in last year's Pulwama attack.

Magrey was produced before the special court in Jammu today and was remanded in 15-day of NIA custody till the interrogation was completed.

JeM had claimed responsibility for the February 2019 Pulwama attack which claimed the lives of 40 CRPF jawans.

"Magrey's shop was located near Lethpora Bridge, and as advised by Mohammad Umar, he started a reconnaissance of the movement of CRPF convoys on the Jammu-Srinagar Highway in January 2019," the NIA statement added.

The Pulwama case has been stuck for several months as all the identified accused are either dead or in Pakistan. In spite of NIA identifying the attacker and tracing the car use in the attack, the agency was unable to move beyond the crucial details as the local handler and car owner were killed in an encounter.

(Inputs and image from the indian express.com)