NIA files charge-sheet against 2 OGWs in 2023 Kokernag encounter case

Jammu, Mar 16 (PTI) The NIA on Saturday filed a charge-sheet against two overground workers of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) in a case related to an encounter in south Kashmir’s Kokernag forest that left four security personnel and two terrorists dead in September last year.

The charge-sheet against Mohd Akbar Dar and Ghulam Nabi Dar, both residents of the Kokernag area of Jammu and Kashmir’s Anantnag district, was filed before the NIA Special Court here under the Indian Penal Code, the Arms Act and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, the anti-terror agency said.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had taken over the case on December 5 after it was initially registered on September 13, 2023, at the Kokernag police station following a week-long encounter at the Guri Nad forest.

Four security personnel, including a colonel, a major and a deputy superintendent of police, were killed in the incident.

LeT commander Uzair Khan and an unidentified terrorist were also killed during the encounter. Khan, who had joined the LeT in August 2022, was an active member of The Resistant Front (TRF), an off-shoot of the terrorist group.

“He was involved in promoting terror activities against security forces in the Anantnag area through Pakistani handlers from across the border. He had also been involved in earlier terror incidents in the Kokernag area, and on previous two occasions, he had managed to flee from the clutches of security forces after taking advantage of the mountainous terrain,” the NIA said.

It said investigations revealed that Akbar Dar and Ghulam Nabi Dar were working as OGWs for the LeT.

“They were helping terrorists active in the area to commit terror acts and activities in the Union Territory (of Jammu and Kashmir). They were providing information about the movement of security forces, along with logistic support in the form of food and daily-need items. They were also harbouring terrorists by providing them shelter,” the NIA said.

Both the LeT and TRF are proscribed organisations and have been involved in continuous instigation and motivation of Kashmiri youth to join terror outfits in the name of “Jihad”, it said and added that the LeT, the largest terrorist group in the region, was formed in the early 1990s.

It is actively engaged in reviving terror networks in Anantnag district, the agency said. It added that the group is working through various offshoots in the Jammu and the Kashmir regions.

The NIA said the two outfits — LeT and TRF — are operating on social media platforms such as X, Telegram and YouTube to promote their cause and lure unemployed youths to carry out terror activities.