The NIA has achieved breakthrough in the Hurriah case by arresting one of the accused in the case to record a confessional statement before a magistrate nailing the alleged role of the Hurriyat brass in channelizing money sourced from Pakistan into disruptive activities in J&K. The breakthrough comes as top Hurriyat leaders Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and Yasin Malik plan to stage a sit-in protest at the NIA headquarters on
September 9.
The statement has been recorded under Section 164 of CrPC, making it admissible in court. According to sources, the Hurriyat `insider’ who agreed to turn `informer’ has revealed how top Kashmiri separatists further the agenda of Pakistan-based forces to keep the militancy fires burning in Kashmir.
They apparently receive funds from Pakistani sources, including ISI, and route them through into Kashmir by the hawala route or through bank accounts of Kashmiri businessmen, before they reach Hurriyat.
The Hurriyat leaders, in turn, pass them on to terror commanders operating in J&K through trusted conduits. Not all of these funds reach the intended beneficiaries and a portion is allegedly pocketed by the Hurriyat brass, which NIA says explains the prime properties and real estate amassed by them over the years.
NIA says it has a strong case against the Hurriyat brass supported not only by the confessional statement but also of electronic trail of their communication.
NIA has, so far, arrested eight Hurriyat men in the J&K terror funding case:
It first arrested seven in July – Altaf Ahmad Shah ‘Funtoosh’ Geelani, son in law of Syed Ali Shah Geelani;
Ayaz Akbar Khandey, Geelani’s close aide and Tehreek-e-Hurriyat spokesman;
Raja Mehrajuddin Kalwal, former Hizbul Mujahideen militant who organises stone pelting/processions allegedly on instructions of Geelani;
Peer Saifullah, key Tehreek-e-Hurriyat member often seen at Geelani’s residence;
Shahid-ul-Islam, spokesperson of moderate Hurriyat faction led by Mirwaiz Umer Farooq;
Nayeem Khan, a close aide of Shabir Shah who was later arrested by ED; and Farooq Ahmed Dar alias ‘Bitta Karate’, a former JKLF militant.
The eighth arrest – that of prominent Kashmiri businessman Zahoor Ahmed Watali – was made last month. NIA recovered a diary during raids at Watali’s premises that reportedly records payments of alleged terror funds to top Hurriyat leaders
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