The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday conducted raids at nearly a dozen places across Jammu district in connection with its investigations into cases relating to cross-border infiltration by militants.

The Jammu region has witnessed a sudden upsurge of militant attacks over the past few years, resulting in a high number of casualties of army personnel. The region, which has 10 districts, had been relatively terror-free for over two decades until 2021. A probe has revealed that newly formed offshoots of militant outfits have been facilitating cross-border infiltration and providing logistics to the militants.

“NIA teams conducted extensive searches at the homes of over-ground workers (OGWs) linked with the newly formed offshoots and affiliates of banned terrorist organisations such as the Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM),” the agency said.

Premises of sympathisers and cadres of these outfits were also searched as part of the action taken in a terror-related case.