In this episode of First Things Fast, Manish Adhikary decodes the shadowy world of OGWs—Over-Ground Workers.
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00:00Terrorists don't just cross the border and start firing, they need eyes, they need legs, they need the locals.
00:19These guys are called OGWs, overground workers.
00:22They're not the ones pulling the trigger, but without them, attacks like Pahalgaam would be impossible.
00:27I'm Manishabhikari and you're watching First Things Farms.
00:30We've spoken to a Kashmir Lashkar proxy.
00:34In an exclusive interview with India Today's Arvind Oja, a former Lashkar sleeper cell member made some really alarming revelations.
00:41If it's a force, it means that on-ground workers are in any way.
00:46It can go anywhere. It can go in the force.
00:48The force can't even say anything. The police can't even say anything.
00:51Because on-ground workers are working with militants, they don't even know that they work with militants.
01:01Our man here used to be a member of a sleeper cell.
01:04A sleeper cell is like a terrorist time bomb with a long fuse, silent, hidden, and waiting to be triggered.
01:11These operatives don't usually carry out day-to-day violence or show signs of radical activity.
01:17Instead, they sleep. Hence the name, UNTIL.
01:20They sleep until they are activated to commit or assist in terror attacks.
01:24But the man Arvind Oja interviewed, he had served over two years in jail and was now believed to have reformed.
01:30Although he did say that some of his former friends continue to be active on the ground.
01:34If we talk about all terrorists, then there are also two terrorists on the ground.
01:40So if we talk about the neutralization, then it's approximately 30 and 14.
01:44So, these 14 locals he's referring to would have served as OGWs willing to help terrorists with food, shelter, logistics, and most crucially, intel.
01:53Yes sir, they also want to work with Kashmir.
01:56The young people also want to work with militants.
02:00They want to work with our food.
02:01These OGWs also watch troop movements, they know the routes, they pick the right time.
02:25To help, the terrorists who come from Pakistan or Jammu Kashmir are also terrorists, they help them with the work of an on-ground worker.
02:34Yes sir, it is the work of an on-ground worker.
02:36This man says he was recruited in 2015 through Facebook.
02:39Encrypted apps like BBM kept him off the radar.
02:43His first job, feed a terrorist hiding deep in the forest.
02:46Then came supply drops, courier runs, recon missions.
02:49He also shed light on how the Pahalgam attack may have been executed.
02:53They are Pakistani terrorists.
02:55How will they come to contact with OGWs?
02:56How will they come to another person?
02:58Yes sir, as I said,
02:59they will already have contact with them.
03:02So sir, if they can see them first,
03:07they will have planned for a month and a month and a month and a month and a month and a month and a month and a month and a month and a month and a month and a month and a month and a month and a month.
03:14Today he is out of the network, ashamed.