India is fighting coronavirus pandemic, however, Kashmir is fighting the coronavirus as well as terrorism. National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday nabbed a former sarpanch, aligned to the BJP, from Shopian in South Kashmir. He was arrested in a case registered in January after a J&K police officer Davinder Singh was caught travelling in a car with a Hizbul Mujahideen militant.
36-years-old, Tariq Ahmad Mir, was arrested by the NIA on Wednesday. As per official Mir's name popped up during the interrogation of Naveed Mushtaq Shah, the Hizbul Mujahideen militant. Shah reportedly told interrogators that Mir was involved in providing weapons to other terrorist groups.
Gram panchayat elections are not fought on party symbols but candidates do get support from political parties. Mir was elected in 2011. An official said the NIA had raided multiple locations in February and Mir’s house was one of them, but he was not arrested then.
An NIA official said, "Mir is an arms conduit, he was arrested and produced in court which granted six-day custody. Further interrogation is on."
Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Davinder Singh was arrested with Naveed, Rafi Ahmed Rather, another Hizbul militant and Irfan Shafi, a lawyer, on January 11 in South Kashmir’s Kulgam. The accused were en route to the residence of Naveed’s younger brother Syed Irfan Ahmad in Jammu. A PhD scholar, Irfan was arrested on January 24 by the J&K police. The case was subsequently transferred to the NIA.
Another official said though Mir was not directly involved in Davinder Singh’s case, he played an important role in providing weapons to several terrorist groups active in Kashmir Valley including the Hizbul.