Srinagar (PTI): The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday carried out raids at eight locations in Pulwama, Shopian and Kulgam districts of Kashmir in connection with a "white-collar" terror module that was behind a car blast near Delhi's Red Fort, officials said here.
The NIA teams conducted searches at the residence of Moulvi Irfan Ahmad Wagay in Shopian, officials said. Wagay has emerged as the mastermind of the radicalisation and recruitment of the 'white-collar' terror module busted early last month.
He was arrested by police in October, and the NIA took him into custody last month after taking over the probe into the car blast that left 15 people dead and several others injured.
Raids were also carried out at Koil, Chandgam, Malangpora and Samboora areas of Pulwama district, officials said, adding these locations were linked to people associated with the Delhi car blast case.
Additionally, the agency searched the residence of Dr Adeel Ahmad Rather, who was arrested from Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur in the first week of November.
Further details are awaited.
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Cooch Behar (WB) (PTI): Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday alleged the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre was using the proposed amendment to the women's quota law in Parliament as a front for the Delimitation Bill that would "break the country into pieces".
The TMC will fight this Central government's move at every step, she asserted at her party's poll rally here.
The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill to tweak the women's quota law, along with the Delimitation Bill and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, to implement the proposed amended women's quota law, in the Union territories of Delhi, Puducherry and Jammu and Kashmir, were introduced in the Lok Sabha on Thursday.
According to the Constitution amendment bill, Lok Sabha seats will be increased to a maximum of 850 from the current 543 to "operationalise" the women's reservation law before the 2029 parliamentary polls, following a delimitation exercise based on the 2011 Census.
Seats will also be increased in state and Union territory assemblies to accommodate 33 per cent reservation for women.
Opposing the Centre's move, Banerjee alleged that "the BJP brought the Delimitation Bill while keeping the women's reservation bill at the front".
"The BJP is trying to increase the number of seats in the Lok Sabha to nearly 850 through the Delimitation Bill. It will break the country into pieces," the TMC supremo said.
She also alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not speaking the truth about the development of north Bengal at a BJP rally last week.
"The prime minister said nothing was done for the development of north Bengal. But we spent Rs 1.72 lakh crore on the development of the region," Banerjee said and asked Modi to cross-check data before making such remarks.
