File photo (Picture credit: ANI)

SRINAGAR: J&K Police’s State Investigation Agency (SIA) conducted extensive searches at eight locations across seven districts in the Union Territory on Wednesday. The agency stated that the raids were related to a “sleeper cell module operating in the valley at the behest of terrorist commanders of proscribed outfits Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad”.The module is used to spread secessionist propaganda; indoctrinate and recruit innocent youth into the terror fold, the SIA claimed. “During the raids, substantial incriminating materials have been seized, and several suspects rounded up for further questioning,” the agency stated.According to SIA, preliminary investigation revealed the active engagement of “these entities in a terrorist conspiracy aimed at propagating and furthering anti-India narratives aimed not only at challenging the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India but also at inciting disaffection, public disorder, and communal hatred”.