Mohd Iqbal Rather had facilitated the movement of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorist Muhammed Umar Farooq, a key conspirator in the Pulwama attack case.
he National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday made a crucial arrest in connection with the Pulwama attack. As many as 40 personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were martyred in this IED blast on February 14 of last year.
Officials have identified the suspect as 25-year-old Mohd Iqbal Rather, a resident of the Futlipura area of Charar-e-Shareef in Jammu and Kashmir’s Budgam district.
Mohd Iqbal Rather had facilitated the movement of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorist Muhammed Umar Farooq, a key conspirator in the case. Farooq had infiltrated Indian territory in Jammu in April 2018, from the National Highway near the International border to South Kashmir. Along with others, Farooq had assembled the IED used in the attack.
File photo of Mohd Iqbal Rather (Photo Credits: Kamaljit Sandhu)
According to the NIA, Mohd Iqbal Rather was in judicial custody since September 2018 in another case related to the JeM under the agency’s scanner. He was produced by jail authorities before the NIA Special Court in Jammu on Thursday and has been remanded to the agency’s custody for seven days for the purpose of interrogation.
Initial probe into the attack revealed that Mohd Iqbal Rather was in constant touch with the Pakistan-based JeM leadership through secure messaging apps. He was also part of JeM’s “transportation module”.
CRPF jawans who were martyred in the Pulwama attack in 2019 (Photo Credits: PTI)
With this arrest, the NIA has so far arrested 6 accused persons in connection with the Pulwama attack.
