According to NIA, the initial review has revealed that “Mohd. Iqbal Rather was in constant contact with the leadership of the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed and communicated with them through secure messaging applications. (File)
The National Investigative Agency (NIA) made the sixth arrest Thursday in the February 2019 Pulwama attack case.
Budgam resident Mohammed Iqbal Rather was arrested by the NIA for allegedly transporting Pakistani bomb-maker Mohammed Umer from the Jammu border to Pulwama.
Umer and his associates allegedly planted a bomb in a car that was driven by Kakpora resident Adil Ahmed Dar and exploded near a CRPF bus, killing 40 people, on February 14, 2019.
Sources said Rather was arrested in September last year in connection with a Jaish-e-Mohammed conspiracy case. He was housed in jail, where he was detained by the NIA in the Pulwama case after evidence emerged that he played a role in transporting the pump maker Pulwama.
“Mohd. Iqbal Rather had facilitated the movement of Muhammad Umar Farooq, the terrorist JeM and a key conspirator in this case, after he infiltrated Indian territory in the Jammu region in April 2018, from the National Highway near the international border to South Kashmir. Mohd Umar Farooq, along with others, had assembled the IED used in the attack, “the NIA said in a statement.
According to NIA, the initial examination has revealed that “Mohd. Iqbal Rather was in constant contact with the leadership of the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed and communicated with them through secure messaging applications. Mohd Iqbal Rather was part of the “transport module” of the terrorist organization Jaish-e-Mohammed “.
Rather was first arrested on September 26 while traveling with his associates Imtiyaz Ahmad Nengroo and RIyaz Nengroo on the Jammu-Pathankot highway. They were suspected of regularly assisting the transportation of JeM terrorists.
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