Police on Wednesday intensified their ongoing crackdown on the terror ecosystem in Kashmir, conducting raids at more than 300 locations linked to individuals associated with the banned Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI), officials said.
According to police officials, the large-scale raids were launched following credible intelligence inputs suggesting attempts by JeI-linked elements to revive their activities under different fronts.
The searches were carried out across several districts, including Kulgam, Pulwama, Shopian, Baramulla, and Ganderbal, targeting the residences and premises of JeI members and their associates. Officials said the operation is part of sustained efforts to “dismantle the terror ecosystem and its support structure at the grassroots level.”
Giving details of the massive operation, officials said that over 200 locations were raided in Kulgam district alone. Over the past four days, they added, more than 400 cordon and search operations (CASOs) have been conducted across various areas of the district at the premises of OGWs, Jammu and Kashmir Nationals Operating from Pakistan (JKNOP), places where encounters occurred in the past, and hideouts of active or killed terrorists.
“These operations have led to the interrogation of around 500 individuals affiliated with JKNOPs and other banned outfits, many of whom have been bound down and shifted to District Jail Mattan, Anantnag under preventive laws,” the officials said.
During the raids, police recovered incriminating materials and digital devices, while several JeI members were interrogated and bound down to further trace and disrupt networks aiding terrorism.
In north Kashmir’s Baramulla district, police in Sopore carried out a major coordinated operation against the “counter-terror and separatist ecosystem,” conducting simultaneous raids at more than 30 locations across Sopore, Zaingeer, and Rafiabad with the assistance of other security agencies.
“During the operations, a significant quantity of incriminating material, including documents, digital gadgets, and printed content with links to the banned organisation, was recovered and seized for detailed scrutiny. Several individuals are being questioned to ascertain their involvement in unlawful activities,” the officials said.
Extensive searches were also conducted in Ganderbal district in central Kashmir, targeting individuals and premises associated with the proscribed organisation. “During the raids, a large quantity of incriminating materials, including documents, digital devices, and printed content having direct links with the banned outfit, were recovered and seized for detailed analysis. Several suspects have been detained for questioning to ascertain their role in unlawful and subversive activities,” the officials said.
According to police, these operations form a crucial part of the Jammu and Kashmir Police’s sustained preventive strategy “aimed at dismantling the terror-separatist ecosystem, cutting off its ideological, financial, and logistical networks, and ensuring that peace and normalcy remain undisturbed.”
Similar raids were also conducted at multiple locations in Shopian and Pulwama districts, where several JeI members were questioned and bound down under law, officials added.