Srinagar, Feb. 14 -- The special court of the NIA in Delhi on Friday sentenced two overground workers (OGWs) of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) to 15 years of imprisonment for providing shelter, food and logistic support to a Pakistani terrorist who infiltrated into Kashmir along with others with the intent to unleash terror in the Valley in 2016. The accused have been identified as Zahoor Ahmed Peer and Nazeer Ahmad Peer, residents of Handwara in Kupwara district of Kashmir, were convicted on December 18, 2025. They have been sentenced under Section 18 and Section 19 of the UA(P) Act, and another nine years under Section 39 of the same legislation. The sentences will run concurrently, upto the maximum of 15 years. The court has also imposed a fine of Rs.50,000 on both of them under each of the sections. "The case relates to a larger LeT conspiracy, under which one Bahadur Ali, alias Saifullah, a Pakistani national and trained terrorist, had infiltrated into the Indian territory in district Kupwara, along with other terrorists. The heavily armed group of terrorists was equipped with sophisticated arms and ammunition, explosives, navigation devices, night vision devices, and communication equipment," NIA said in a statement, adding that while they were in the Indian territory, the group of terrorists had remained in constant contact with their LeT handlers based in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Pakistan. "The terrorists were continuously receiving instructions and directions for carrying out terrorist activities within India. They had planned to carry out a series of terror attacks J&K and other parts of India, including Delhi. Their plans were, however, foiled as Bahadur Ali was arrested on July 25, 2016, while two other terrorists, namely Abu Saad and Abu Darda, were killed in an encounter by security forces later." NIA had filed chargesheet against accused Bahadur Ali in January 2017. "After he pleaded guilty, Bahadur Ali was convicted in March 2021, and sentenced to rigorous imprisonment under various provisions of IPC, UA (P) Act, Explosives Act, Explosive SubstancesAct, Arms Act, and Foreigners Act." NIA statement further said that it was during the course of further investigation that the role of Zahoor Ahmed Peer and Nazir Ahmad Peer emerged, and NIA found that they had provided safe shelter, food, and other logistics support to the Pakistani terrorist. "The duo had even facilitated Bahadur Ali by arranging his meetings with other Pakistani terrorists in Kashmir Valley." The NIA statement said that these two men were identified and arrested in September 2017 and were chargesheeted by NIA in March 2018. "The court convicted them on December 18, 2025, and passed the sentence against them today, causing a massive setback to the OGW network of harbourers of Pakistani terrorists in Kashmir."...