The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday carried out multiple searches in south Kashmir in connection with a case in which a senior Jammu and Kashmir police officer was arrested.

The searches were conducted by the NIA at five locations in Kashmir two each in Kupwara and Shopian and one in Tral of Awantipora. The locations that were searched by the NIA included the ancestral residence of the suspended J&K cop Davinder Singh.

The NIA with the assistance of the Jammu and Kashmir Police carried out searches in Shopian at the residences of Farooq Ahmed Thokar, an over ground worker (OGW) and Omar Dhobi, a Hizbul militant.

Shopian SP Sandeep Chaudhary, meanwhile, denied reports on NIA raids at IPS officer's residence in Shopian.

The searches come days after NIA officers interrogated all the accused arrested in the case. Since Saturday, a 20-member team led by DIG Sonia Narang has been camping in South Kashmir to carry out raids.

On Sunday, five places, including that of a sarpanch, were searched by the NIA officials. Multiple NIA teams, fanned in various parts ofsouth Kashmir's Kulgam and Shopian districts, carried out the searches at the residences of Rafi Ahmed Rather, an arrested militant, at Zainpora.

The NIA teams entered into the house of Lashker-e-Taibaterrorist Adil Hussain and Sarpanch Tariq Ahmed Mir besides the houses of Over Ground Workers (OGWs) at Maldera in Shopian and Kulgam, the officials said.Some documents were also seized, they said.

The NIA had taken over the case of Jammu and Kashmir's Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Davinder Singh who was caught while ferrying two terrorists out of the Valley on January 11. The DSP has since been suspended.

Besides Singh, the others arrested were: Syed Naveed Mushtaq Ahmed alias Naveed Babu, who is a self-styled commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen, Rafi Ahmed Rather and Irfan Shafi Mir, who claims to be an advocate.

They were arrested from the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway near Qazigund in South Kashmir.

Later, Naveed's brother, Syed Irfan Ahmed, was arrested on January 23 after he was brought from Punjab.

He was in constant touch with his brother and had asked him to look for an accommodation in Chandigarh where they could escape winter months of Kashmir.

Mir, who was driving the vehicle when they were caught by police from a national highway in Kulgam district, may become a prize catch for the NIA as it is alleged he was acting on the orders of his masters in Pakistan. He had visited the neighbouring country five times on an Indian passport.