SRINAGAR: With Hizbul Mujahideen emerging as dominant and forceful militant outfit in Kashmir, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has gone after its Muzaffarabad, Pakistan administered Kashmir (PaK)-based chief commander Syed Salah-ud-Din by arresting his second son in Srinagar, summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, on Thursday.
An NIA spokesman said NIA team along with CRPF and J&K policemen arrested Syed Shakeel Yousuf, son of Syed Salah-ud-Din, from Rambagh area of uptown Srinagar in an operation this morning. He said Shakeel, who was working as a laboratory assistant in Sheri Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) Soura, was arrested in a militancy funding case.
Before his arrest today, Shakeel, who is the eldest son of Hizb chief Syed Salah-ud-Din, was quizzed by NIA teams in militancy funding case in March this year. Shakeel, according to sources, has been arrested in a case filed by the NIA in April 2011. The NIA spokesman said the case pertains to transfer of funds through Hawala channels by the militants based in Pakistan to Jammu & Kashmir, in a criminal conspiracy hatched with some operatives in India, to fuel and fund the separatist and militant activities in J&K.
"In this case, Ghulam Mohammed Bhat alias Abdul Rehman and 3 others were chargesheeted in 2011. During the investigation, involvement of Shakeel also surfaced in raising, receiving, collecting funds from militant organization through its active cadres from Saudi Arabia. He had received money through Western Union several times which were sent by absconding chargesheeted accused Aijaz Ahmad Bhat alias Aijaz Maqbool Bhat," he alleged.
According to NIA spokesman, the investigation revealed that Shakeel had received funds from various countries from the operatives of Hizbul Mujahideen. He said the accused was summoned by NIA for questioning but he did not appear. -"A non-bailable warrant (NBW) was earlier got issued by NIA from the NIA Special Court, Patiala House, New Delhi. He is being brought to Delhi."Shakeel, he said, would be produced before the NIA Special Court for seeking his police custody for custodial interrogation. Shakeel is the second son of Salah-ud-Din to be arrested by the NIA in connection with the militancy funding case.
Earlier, in October 2017, Salah-ud-Din's another son Syed Shahid Yousuf was arrested by NIA. Shahid, who was working in the Sheri Kashmir Agriculture department Kashmir, was also arrested in militancy funding case and is presently lodged in Delhi's Tihar jail.
The NIA spokesman said Shahid was arrested by NIA as he had received funds from Hizb from abroad and was chargesheeted in 2018. "In this case, so far, three accused persons Mohammad Sidiq Ganai, Ghulam Jeelani Liloo and Farooq Ahmed Dagga have been convicted after they pleaded guilty."
The NIA has also arrested at least seven separatist leaders including hardline Syed Ali Geelani's son in law Altaf Ahmad Shah and a top businessman Zahoor Watali in militancy funding case. All of them are also lodged in Tihar jail.
Another top separatist leader Shabir Ahmad Shah was also arrested last year by Enforcement Directorate in decade-old money laundering case. He is also lodged in Tihar jail.