NIA chargesheets three accused, linked with banned ISIS terrorist outfit, for 2024 Srinagar grenade attack

The NIA has chargesheeted three accused, linked with the banned “Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS)/Islamic State Jammu and Kashmir (ISJK)” terrorist group, for their involvement in the 2024 Srinagar market grenade attack which killed one woman and left several other civilians injured, an official statement said on Saturday. In its chargesheet filed before the NIA Special Court, Jammu, the anti-terror agency has named Sheikh Usama Yaseen, Umar Fayaz Sheikh, and Afnan Mansoor Naik under relevant sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, Explosive Substances Act, and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), it said. All three are currently lodged in judicial custody, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) said in the statement.

Usama and Umer were arrested on November 7, just four days after the November 3, 2024, attack at the busy Sunday Market near Tourist Reception Centre (TRC) in Srinagar, it said.

Afnan was arrested on November 8 for his active role in the criminal conspiracy, aimed at waging a war against India through targeted terrorist attacks on security forces as well as the civilian population, the probe agency said.

The NIA, which has also uncovered possible involvement of other terror groups in the conspiracy behind the attack, found during investigations that the trio had planned, conspired and executed the grenade attack with the intent to create panic and terror in the region.

The attack was part of a broader strategy to disturb public order and further the violent agenda of terrorist outfits operating with support from across the border, the NIA said. Investigations in the case, which was registered by the NIA on January 31, 2025, are continuing in an effort to identify the wider network involved in the attack.