New Delhi, Nov 14 : Investigation into the Delhi Red Fort blast case points to a strong Jammu and Kashmir link.

Maulvi Irfan Ahmed, a resident of Jammu and Kashmir, oversaw the Faridabad module, which is linked to the Delhi blast case.

Car bomber Dr Umar Nabi, too, was a resident of Pulwama.

Intelligence agencies said that this suggests a clear shift in the manner Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) proposes to operate in India.

Earlier, terror groups based outside Pakistan sought to recruit with the intention that their operatives would carry out attacks in Jammu and Kashmir.

However, now the new pattern emerging suggests that terror groups want to recruit from Jammu and Kashmir and deploy them in the rest of the country.

When the ISI created terror groups such as The Resistance Front (TRF) and Hizbul Mujahideen, the intention was to have homegrown groups.

The idea was to portray to the world that it was the locals of Kashmir who wanted the Union Territory liberated from India.

The Hizbul Mujahideen, which was a homegrown outfit controlled by the ISI, was wiped out in Jammu and Kashmir by the security agencies.

It all began with the elimination of Burhan Wani, following which the security forces killed all the top commanders of the outfit. This led to the creation of TRF, which mostly recruits from Jammu and Kashmir.

However, the Indian armed forces carried out Operation Sindoor to avenge the Pahalgam attacks.

Following this, TRF vanished from the picture. Since then, the ISI has tried hard to raise a homegrown outfit in Jammu and Kashmir, but failed to find the desired success.

The Delhi blast shows a pattern shift, and the JeM has been recruiting people from Jammu and Kashmir to carry out attacks in other parts of the country.

The JeM, which created the Faridabad module, was in the process of recruiting more from Jammu and Kashmir for the other modules across the country.

Officials said that the ISI is clear that it wants locals from Jammu and Kashmir to be part of these modules and carry out attacks across the country.

One of the main intentions is to separate the Kashmiris from the rest of the country.

Following the Pahalgam attack, a divide was almost created between Kashmir and the rest of India. There were hateful messages that were posted against the Kashmiris. This is what the ISI intends to continue playing out so that the local Kashmiris feel alienated, and they will move towards the ISI's agenda.

Post the abrogation of Article 370, a lot has changed in Jammu and Kashmir.

The locals witnessed peace after a long time, and this led to a tourism boom. This benefited the locals a lot.

An official explained that this shift is something that the ISI could not digest.

Moreover, this was hurting their agenda as the youth, who normally pelted stones, moved away and began focusing on their livelihood.

The ISI and JeM launched a drive whereby they would pick people from Jammu and Kashmir to carry out attacks in the country.

It also tasked the Jamaat-e-Islami with identifying people to execute this task. The Intelligence Bureau has flagged this ploy of the terror outfit, leading to nearly 500 raids in Jammu and Kashmir over the last couple of days.

An Intelligence Bureau official said that it is necessary to pick out the select few who still back the ISI, and this needs to be done urgently to avoid the problem from spreading further.

Raids are ongoing in several locations relating to the Jamaat, which is a banned entity in India.

The agencies are focused on the members of the Jamaat and also those linked with the Jaish-e-Mohammad.

The scanner is also on those persons who were behind pasting the posters of the JeM in Jammu and Kashmir.

It clearly indicated that the ISI, with the help of the Jamaat, has launched a massive drive to recruit locals to be part of the many modules of the JeM across the country.

/IANS