The National Investigation Agency has put up posters in several parts of the Kashmir valley seeking information on four militants of The Resistance Front (TRF), an offshoot of the proscribed outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba.
Among the four is Basit Ahmed Dar who went missing on 26 April 2021 and was earlier categorized as a C-category militant.
On April 30, 2021, The Kashmiriyat reported that the family of a 16-year-old boy from the Redwani area of Kulgam district who had gone missing from his home in the South Kashmir district appealed to him to return home.
Basit Ahmed Dar, the 16-year-old left his home for an errand and informed his family that he will return in a short span, but after that, his phone was switched off.
Speaking to The Kashmiriyat, the family members of the teenager had appealed to him to return home saying that, he was missing since 25 April.
“He left home for Kulgam for his work and that was the last time he called his family, since then his mobile phone is switched off to date,” a family member of Basit said on April 30.
Basit’s father passed away in March 2020 and the death was traumatic for the entire family.
According to officials, Basit was the mastermind behind the spat of civilian killings in October 2021. Basit, a resident of Redwani’s Kulgam, who had been missing from his home since April last year joined The Resistance Front (TRF), a front organization of Lashkar-e-Taiba.
According to security officials, Basit Ahmed Dar started a killing spree while taking orders from slain TRF commander, Abbas Sheikh. After the latter was gunned down by security forces, Bashir Ahmed Dar declared himself the chief of TRF.
The other three including one Sajad Gul and two Pakistani nationals are wanted by the NIA in connection with a conspiracy to radicalize, motivate and recruit youths of Jammu Kashmir to carry out violence in India. The probe agency has already announced a cash reward of Rupees 10 lakh for each of the four militants.
The posters have fought information about Pakistani nationals Saleem Rehmani alias ‘Abu Saad’ of Nawab Shah, Sindh, and Saifullah Sajid Jatt of Shangamanga in Kasur, and their local associates Sajjad Gul of Srinagar and Basit Ahmad Dar of Redwani Payeen in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district.
The NIA has given its email address, phone numbers, and WhatsApp and Telegram numbers as well for the public to share the information. It has assured people that the identity of the informer shall be kept secret.
According to the NIA, LeT commanders Sajjad Gul, Salim Rehmani, and Saifullah Sajid Jutt had been radicalizing, motivating, and recruiting youngsters to join militant ranks.