NEW DELHI (TIP): Key members of the Kashmiri separatist group Hurriyat have been booked by the National Intelligence Agency for allegedly receiving funds from Pakistani sources such as LeT’s Hafiz Saeed to foment violence in the Jammu and Kashmir region.
Sources said the agency, which handles high-profile cases such as that of terrorism, will call for questioning Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Naeem Khan, Gazi Javed Baba and Farooq Ahmed Dar alias Bitta Karate — four prominent separatist figures it named in a preliminary enquiry (PE) on Thursday.
A PE is a precursor to an FIR (first investigation report), the first step to launching a probe. The four are suspected to have received funds from sources such as militant group Lashkar e-Tayyeba (LeT) to pay off people carrying out violent protests and arson in the Valley, where more than 100 civilians have been killed since July last year.
“We suspect the money was distributed in the Valley for various violent activities like stone pelting and torching of schools and government buildings,” said a senior NIA official, insisting to not be identified since he was not authorised to speak on the matter. The money, NIA officials believe, was routed through hawala — a system of transferring money across borders that is outlawed in India. The PE names LeT patron Hafiz Saeed as one of the sources for the funds, in addition to other unknown persons in Pakistan.
The NIA will also verify allegations in a sting operation that showed some of the Hurriyat leaders talking about receiving money from Saeed and other Pakistani individuals.