New Delhi: In a first, the house of a designated Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist allegedly involved in the Pulwama terror attack of 2019 was demolished Saturday for being constructed on “encroached government land”, sources told ThePrint.
The two-storey residence of Ashiq Nengroo in Pulwama’s Rajpora colony was demolished by Jammu and Kashmir district authorities in the presence of police.
“Today the district administration retrieved one kanal of state land which was under illegal occupation of Nengroo. He had raised the structure on this land when he was an active terrorist associate in the area and had illegally occupied it by force,” a J&K district official told ThePrint.
A source in the intelligence also said that the house was a “proceeds of crime”, constructed with “terror money”.
“The structure was also impounded in a case registered against him under UAPA as proceeds of terrorism by Pulwama police,” the source told ThePrint.
Nengroo, who is absconding, has several cases of Arms Act, has been termed as a “threat to the security of India” and was designated a terrorist under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act by the Ministry of Home Affairs in April this year.
“…it is imperative, in view of the danger which the said Ashiq Nengroo poses to the security of India, and in order to deter him from perpetrating terrorism not limited to India, that he shall be designated as a terrorist under the provisions of the said Act,” the gazette notification issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs said.
According to MHA’s notification, Nengroo has been involved in the infiltration of terrorists who have been responsible for inflicting various terrorist incidents in Jammu and Kashmir.
“…after running a terror syndicate in Kashmir, the said Ashiq Ahmed Nengroo is now engaged in a perilous campaign to orchestrate terror in Jammu and Kashmir, remote controlled from Pakistan,” the notification said.
When asked about his whereabouts, sources in the intelligence said that he is suspected to be running a JeM network at Pakistan Occupied Kashmir and is involved in “motivating and preparing youth to infiltrate to the Valley for terrorist activities.”
According to a source in the J&K administration, Nengroo has one newly-constructed double-storeyed house at New Colony Rajpora and one old double-storeyed house at Hanjan Balla, seven kanals of orchard land, six kanals at Hanjan Balla and one kanal at Ayangund. In addition, the NIA has impounded one truck that allegedly belongs to him.
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Started as an over-ground worker, ferried terrorists from Pakistan
In its chargesheet in the Pulwama case, NIA had said that after infiltration, Umer Farooq, who was the key attacker in the case, and his associates were given logistical support by Nengroo. According to NIA Nengroo had helped reach the terrorists from Jammu to Kashmir.
According to sources in the intelligence, Ashiq Ahmad Nengroo, born in Hanjan Bala village of Rajpora, has an M.A. in Urdu and was a driver by profession.
His brother, Abas Nengroo, however, was an “active terrorist of JeM outfit during the year 2011 to 2013” and was killed in an encounter in 2013. It is after that Nengroo started working as an Over Ground Worker for the outfit, sources said.
“Besides providing every possible assistance to the terrorists, he was also transporting smuggled weapons for them in his vehicle,” the source said.
He was arrested by Pulwama police in 2013 but was then released on bail, following which he started operating under a code name, Amjid Bhai, the source said.
“He was tasked with ferrying terrorists who would cross the international border into Kashmir Valley. Later, we found that from 2016 to 2018, he ferried more than 20 Pakistani terrorists and huge arms and ammunition into the Valley using his trucks,” the source said.
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)
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