Punjab Police has successfully traced interstate links of slain Hizbual Mujhahideen commander Riaz Ahmed Naikoo, with the arrest of two accomplices of his close associate, Hilal Ahmed Wagay, from Amritsar on Wednesday. Given the gravity of the offences and the cross-border ramifications of the case beyond Punjab, the Centre has directed NIA to take over further investigations into the case to unravel the entire case. Riyaz Naikoo, commander of banned terrorist organisation Hizbul Muzahideen (HM), was killed by armed forces in South Kashmir on Wednesday. Hilal Wagay was arrested earlier on 25 April by Punjab Police, who had subsequently shared details of his disclosures with the Centre as well as the Jammu & Kashmir government.
DGP Dinkar Gupta, giving details of these arrests, said the duo were traced through investigations into the trail of Hizbul terrorist Hilal Ahmed Wagay, who was arrested from Amritsar, where he had come to collect money on the instructions of Riyaz Ahmed Naikoo. The arrested duo have been identified as Bikram Singh and Maninder Singh , both hailing from Amritsar. Police seized 1 kg heroin along with Rs 32 lakh from their possession, and thus unveilng Pakistan-sponsored conspiracy to smuggle narcotics and weapons into the state, said DGP Dinkar Gupta. While Rs 20 lakh in cash were recovered from them at the time of their arrest, the remaining money was seized from their homes later