Chandigarh: In a major breakthrough, the Punjab Police have traced the inter-state links of slain Hizbul Mujhahideen terrorist Riaz Naikoo with the arrest of two accomplices of his close associate, Hilal Ahmed Wagay, from Amritsar on Wednesday.

Wagay, who was arrested on April 25 by the Punjab Police

Given the gravity of the offences and the cross-border ramifications of the case beyond Punjab, the Centre has directed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to take over further investigations into the case to unravel the entire conspiracy, which has footprints leading across the border via J&K.

It may be recalled that Hizbul Muzahideen terrorist Riaz Naikoo, was gunned down by security forces in south Kashmir on Wednesday.

Wagay, who was arrested on April 25 by the Punjab Police, had subsequently shared the details of his disclosures with the Centre as well as the Jammu and Kashmir government.

Giving details of Wednesday’s arrests, Punjab Police DGP Dinkar Gupta said the duo was traced through investigations into the trail of Hizbul terrorist Wagay, who was nabbed from Amritsar, where he had come to collect money on the instructions of Naikoo.

The arrested persons have been identified as Bikram Singh and Maninder Singh, both from Amritsar. The police seized 1 kg heroin along with Rs 32 lakh in Indian currency from their possession, unveiling the Pakistan-sponsored conspiracy to smuggle narcotics and weapons into the state, Gupta said.

While Rs 20 lakh cash was recovered from them at the time of their arrest, the remaining amount was seized from their homes later, following the grant of police remand by the court.

The interrogation of the two accused further revealed that both Bikram and Maninder, along with their cousins Ranjit Singh, Iqbal Singh and Sarwan Singh, dealt in drugs and weapons smuggled from across the border.

Meanwhile, J&K police apprehended a terrorist an over ground worker (OGW) of Hizbul Mujahideen from Doda in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday.

The OGW has been identified as Raqib Alam, a resident of Swanda in Doda. “One pistol and a wireless set was recovered from village Shiva upon his disclosure,” the police said.

The arrest comes just two days after Tanveer Ahmad, a Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist was nabbed from Doda. Alam was arrested after Tanveer disclosed about his association with Hizbul terrorist Haroon, killed in an encounter in January, the police said.

During interrogation, Raqib confessed about hiding a pistol and a wireless set given to him by the terrorists. “He was taken to village Shiva from where pistol and the wireless set were recovered,” the police added.