NEW DELHI, February 14: In a significant crackdown on terror support networks, a Special National Investigation Agency (NIA) Court has sentenced two overground workers (OGWs) of the Pakistan Army-backed Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) to 15 years’ rigorous imprisonment for sheltering a heavily armed infiltrator in Jammu and Kashmir.
Zahoor Ahmed Peer and Nazir Ahmad Peer, both residents of Handwara in Kupwara district, were convicted for providing critical logistics—shelter, food, and facilitation—to Pakistani terrorist Bahadur Ali alias Saifullah, who crossed into India in 2016 loaded with sophisticated arms, explosives, night-vision gear, and communication tools aimed at Valley attacks.
The duo received 15 years each under Sections 18 and 19 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act [UA(P) Act] for conspiracy and individual terror acts, plus nine years under Section 39 for OGW support—running concurrently for a maximum 15-year term. Each faces a Rs 1.5 lakh fine (Rs 50,000 per section), delivering a stern judicial rebuke to harbourers.
The court underscored their “crucial role” in enabling Bahadur Ali’s movements and meetings with fellow infiltrators Abu Saad and Abu Darda, maintaining live links to LeT handlers in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) for strikes targeting J&K and beyond, including Delhi.
The 2016 conspiracy unraveled when Bahadur Ali was nabbed on July 25 in Kupwara. Security forces later eliminated Saad and Darda in a fierce encounter, thwarting a multi-pronged assault. NIA chargesheeted Ali in January 2017; he pleaded guilty, earning conviction in March 2021 under IPC, UA(P) Act, Explosives Act, Arms Act, and Foreigners Act.
Probes unmasked the Peers’ complicity in September 2017, leading to arrests and chargesheet in March 2018. Conviction came December 18, 2025, with sentencing today—a body blow to LeT’s OGW grid in north Kashmir, where locals historically aided infiltrators blending into villages.
This verdict reinforces India’s zero-tolerance on proxy terror enablers, disrupting logistics chains vital for sustaining cross-border militants amid ongoing J&K operations. NIA affirmed continued probes into wider networks.
