Srinagar: The counter-intelligence wing of Jammu and Kashmir Police on Saturday raided 10 locations in different districts of Kashmir in connection with the investigations into a terror recruitment case.
Officials said that the Counter Intelligence Kashmir (CIK) is carrying out searches at 10 locations in four places in the Valley in connection with the investigation into a terror recruitment case.
“These raids are part of an ongoing investigation into a terror crime case linked to a terrorist sleeper cell and recruitment module handled by Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) commander, Abdullah Ghazi, from across the border.
“The places being raided are in Pulwama, Budgam, Ganderbal and Kangan areas,” the officials said.
It must be mentioned that ‘sleeper cells’ is the name given by the authorities to those low-lying, normal-looking terrorists who are not actively involved in terrorism.
The terror commanders give sleeper cells weapons to undertake a specific terrorist act. After carrying out the crime, a terrorist belonging to the ‘sleeper cell’ dumps the weapon and resumes normal activities of life.
Intelligence agencies say identification and arrest of a sleeper cell terrorist becomes a challenging task since such “off-time” terrorists can either be trapped while indulging in an act of terrorism or nabbed through identification by an arrested terror commander.
The terrorists working as sleeper cells are not directly connected, and the arrest of one such member does not necessarily provide a lead to other members of the same or other sleeper cell modules.
Sleeper cells perform most of the difficult terror crimes, like shooting a local policeman in a crowded place, hurling a grenade at a marketplace place or circulating terrorist literature, among others.
Often, such youth operate without the knowledge of their parents, relatives, friends and neighbours, and this is the reason that disbelief is expressed by parents, relatives, neighbours and friends once the police arrest any member of the sleeper cell.
(IANS)
