New Delhi: The State Investigation Agency (SIA) on Sunday held raids at various locations in South Kashmir in a case linked with sharing of ‘sensitive and strategic information’ about security forces and other important setups through messaging applications. The investigation agency detained several persons and also seized the evidence material.
On Sunday morning, the special investigating body of Jammu and Kashmir raided 20 locations in the Union Territory’s four districts – Anantnag, Kulgam, Pulwama, and Shopian. The search was related to a case registered (FIR No. 01/2025) under different sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), 1967, including sections 13, 17, 18, 18-B, 38 and 39.
“Technical intelligence indicated that a host of sleeper cells in Kashmir were in direct contact with their handlers based in Pakistan and were involved in conveying sensitive and strategic information about security forces and vital installations via messaging apps including but not limited to WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal and so on,” the official release of SIA read.
“These terror associates were also involved in online radical propaganda at the behest of terrorist commanders of Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Muhammad, posing a grave threat to national security and integrity,” the SIA added.
The SIA noted that its preliminary findings suggested the suspects were ‘actively engaged in a larger terrorist conspiracy, where they spread and promoted anti-India narratives, which challenged India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The crackdown came after India and Pakistan agreed to ceasefire on Saturday (May 9) to stop all firings and military action after over 80 hours of hostilities between the armed forces of the two nations.
The SIA was setup by the Jammu and Kashmir government’s Home department in November 2021. It was constituted as a ‘specialised’, nodal agency, for coordinating with NIA (National Investigation Agency) and other central agencies. The main reason behind SIA’s creation was for ‘specialised investigation’ into terror cases, which weren’t referred to the NIA.
