National Investigation Agency to Probe Conspiracy Behind J&K Civilian Killings

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) will probe the targeted killing of four civilians in Jammu and Kashmir this month, reports said on Tuesday morning, 19 October.

The NIA is already probing a larger conspiracy in the killings and has arrested nine persons and raided over two dozen places linked with, 'The Resistance Front' – believed to an offshoot of the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba.

The agency is expected to investigate the killing of Makhan Lal Bindroo, Virender Paswan, Supunder Kaur and Deepak Chand, as well as that of two labourers from Bihar – Raja Rishidev and Yogendra Rishidev.

The two persons from Bihar were gunned down by terrorists in Wanpoh in Kulgam district on Sunday, taking the number of civilians killed in targeted attacks in Jammu and Kashmir this month to 11.

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The NIA will take over the probe into the killings of Makhal Lal Bindroo, who ran a pharmacy in Srinagar, street vendor Virendra Paswan, government school teachers, Supinder Kaur and Deepak Chand from Kashmir's minority Sikh and Hindu communities.

Driven by fear, many Kashmiri Pandit families have tried to leave the transit camps. Migrant labourers and workers from other states have also begun leaving J&K.

Sources told NDTV that the union government has asked the NIA to look at the conspiracy behind the attack. So far, about 900 persons with suspected links to separatist outfits have been detained. Investigations so far have revealed that the killings are part of a conspiracy to instil fear in Jammu & Kashmir, reports suggested.

(With inputs from NDTV)

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