At least 23 men with suspected links to Jaish-e-Mohammad have been detained in Jammu and Kashmir following the terror attack on a CRPF convoy in Pulwama last week.
National Investigating Agency (NIA) have questioned the suspects about the terror attack, two security officials said. "They are trying to reach out to the top commanders of Jaish-e-Mohammad, including its Kashmir Chief," one of the sources said.
Mohammed Umair, the JeM commander in Jammu and Kashmir who is believed to have plotted the attack, is suspected to be hiding in the region, the officials said.
The officials say Umair had "radicalised and motivated" the Kashmiri school dropout who rammed a car laden with explosives into the CRPF convoy last Thursday.
Umair reportedly entered J&K from Pakistan in September 2018 to head JeM in the region. Security forces suspect he is in hiding in southern Kashmir.
Officials also say Umair is the nephew of JeM chief Masood Azhar, who is believed to be in Pakistan.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has promised a strong response to the attack and says he has given the military a free hand to tackle cross-border militancy.
Security forces have raided the houses of suspected militants across south Kashmir to find information on those who masterminded and executed the attack.
Muzaffar Ahmad Malik, whose brother declared himself a militant a year ago, told Reuters that his house was raided on Saturday. "They were looking for militants, as they said that they had information about militants hiding in the house," Malik said.
Investigators are now trying to figure out how a large quantity of explosives used in the attack was smuggled into Kashmir, the officials said.
