NIA seizes foreign money in fresh raids on Hurriyat leaders
The agency recovered some foreign currency of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and UAE, in addition to some incriminating documents.
New Delhi: In a follow-up action to the raids conducted across several places in Delhi, Haryana and Kashmir on Saturday, the National Investigation Agency conducted a similar operation on Sunday in Jammu and Srinagar. The searches are part of an ongoing investigation the NIA is conducting in connection with terror funding in Kashmir Valley.
The agency recovered some foreign currency of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and UAE, in addition to some incriminating documents. Raids were conducted at the resident of Ayaz Akbar, who is the spokesperson of the Tehreek-e-Hurriyat which is led by senior Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, and his close aide, Peer Saifullah.
In Jammu, the NIA searched the premises of a local businessman who is suspected to be involved in a cross-border trade scam. It is suspected that some businessmen involved in cross-border trade with Pakistan were either resorting to under- or over-invoicing their bills so that difference in payment could be later used to transfer funds for terror activities in the Valley.
The NIA is trying to unearth the nexus between terror groups, separatist leaders, businessmen and hawala operators which is being used to pump money into the Valley. On Saturday, the NIA had raided 29 locations in different cities recovering some unaccounted books of account, '2 crore in cash and letterheads of banned terror groups such as Lashkar-e-Tayyaba and Hizbul Mujahideen. In addition, the NIA has also recovered 85 gold coins and jewellery worth '40 lakh.
Some phone diaries, cellphones and documents such as paper slips of some payments and vouchers were seized in Saturday raids which targeted separatist leaders like Zahoor Watali, Raja Zahoor Khan, Farooq Ahmad Dar and Nayeem Khan.
The NIA has already lodged an FIR in connection with terror funding which names the Hurriyat Conference factions led by Geelani and Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, Hizbul Mujahideen, Dukhtaran-e-Milat and Lashkar-e-Tayyaba as well as its founder Hafiz Saeed.
It is suspected that most of the money being pushed into the Valley for terror activities is being sent by Saeed and the NIA is now trying to establish his direct link with some separatist leaders in Kashmir.