Anti-Terror Agency Conducts Raids Across Kashmir Targeting Jamaat-e-Islami

In a sweeping crackdown on terror and underground networks, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday launched coordinated raids at multiple locations across Kashmir, targeting suspected attempts to revive the banned outfit Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) and once again push separatism in Jammu and Kashmir.

Sources said NIA teams, assisted by the police and the CRPF, carried out simultaneous searches in Srinagar and South Kashmir districts, focusing on workers, terror-funding channels, and entities linked to the proscribed JeI.

In Srinagar, several premises in the Lal Bazar area were raided. In South Kashmir's Shopian district, the spotlight was on Siraj-ul-Uloom in the Imam Sahib area.

Siraj-ul-Uloom first came under scrutiny in 2022 when the Home Department ordered its closure. The institute was banned over allegations of propagating radical ideology, harbouring links to terror operatives, and functioning as a recruitment hub for banned outfits. Another raid was conducted in the Mulu area of Chitragam, at the residence of Shehzada, who was previously associated with the institute.

Officials said the searches are part of an ongoing terror-related investigation into attempts to resurrect Jamaat-e-Islami's network to fuel anti-India propaganda.

The Union Government declared "Jamaat-e-Islami Jammu Kashmir" an "unlawful association" in February 2019 under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), citing its role in fomenting terrorism and secessionism.

The ban was extended for another five years in February 2024, with the Centre noting JeI's continued activities as "prejudicial to internal security and public order." Investigations revealed that money collected by the Jamiat in the name of zakat-a mandatory Islamic financial obligation requiring adult, sane Muslims to donate a specific portion of their wealth annually to charitable causes-was instead being diverted to fund terror.

Monday's raids signal the NIA's intensified push to choke the financial and ideological ecosystem sustaining terrorism in the Union Territory.