NEW DELHI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Saturday said that it has conducted raids at multiple locations in Jammu & Kashmir as part of its probe against the proscribed Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) in a terror funding case.
A spokesperson of the NIA said agency sleuths on Saturday morning swooped down on the premises of various suspects at five locations in Srinagar, three in Budgam, two in Kulgam, one in Anantnag and four in Jammu.
“Incriminating documents and digital devices connected with the activities of JeI and its related Trusts in J&K have been seized during the raids, which also led to the recovery of over Rs 20 lakh in cash,” the official said.
NIA had registered a case on February 5, 2021 to investigate, and has so far found that the members of JeI have continued to promote terrorist activities in J&K even after the organisation was declared 'banned' under the UA(P) Act in February 2019 as per an official, while alleging that its operatives had been collecting funds through donations from within India and abroad.
“The funds were collected mainly in the form of Zakat, Mowda and Bait-ul-Mal, purported to promote charity and other welfare activities, such as health and education, but the same were instead being used for carrying out violent and secessionist activities,” the official alleged.
According to the official, the NIA in its investigation also found that the funds raised by JeI were also being channeled to other proscribed terrorist organisations, such as Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM), Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and others, through well organised networks of JeI cadres.
The JeI was also engaged in motivating impressionable youth and recruiting new members (Rukuns) in J&K to further its nefarious and secessionist activities, he said, adding that NIA had earlier filed charge sheet against 4 accused persons, as the investigation continued.