SRINAGAR: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has chargesheeted six senior Kashmiri separatist leaders, including Shabir Ahmad Shah and late Hurriyat Conference chairman Syed Ali Geelani, in connection with the 1996 case of mob violence and firing on police personnel in Srinagar.
The chargesheet filed on Friday before the NIA Special Court, Jammu, has named separatist leaders Shabir Ahmad Shah, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Abdul Gani Lone, Mohammad Yaqoob Wakeel alias Mohammad Yaqoob Vakil, Shakeel Ahmad Bakshi and former militant commander Javid Ahmad Mir.
Among the six, three, including Syed Ali Geelani, Abdul Gani Lone and Mohammad Yaqoob Wakeel, have passed away.
According to the NIA spokesperson, all six have been charged under relevant provisions of the Ranbir Penal Code, 1989, for criminal conspiracy, attempt to murder, rioting and assault on public servants, along with Section 13 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.
"The chargesheet clearly established their roles in the criminal conspiracy and the common object of the unlawful assembly, along with supporting evidence,” the spokesman said.
NIA, during the investigation, ascertained that all six accused had led an unlawful assembly and instigated large-scale violence against police personnel during the funeral procession of slain militant Hilal Ahmad Beigh at Naaz Crossing, Srinagar, on July 17, 1996.
“Armed militants blended in with the procession, which was jointly led by the accused Hurriyat leaders, and fired indiscriminately at police personnel during the violence, in which several police officials were injured. Government vehicles were also extensively damaged in heavy stone pelting on the occasion,” the NIA chargesheet stated.
As per NIA’s findings in the case RC-01/2026/NIA/JMU, the chargesheeted Hurriyat leaders had actively incited the violence, raising anti-India, pro-Pakistan and secessionist slogans, delivering inflammatory speeches and advocating armed struggle.
The NIA spokesperson said meticulous investigation by the agency clearly established that the mob violence was part of a larger, pre-planned criminal conspiracy of the Hurriyat leadership to use the funeral procession as a platform for propagating separatist ideology, mobilising public support against the Government of India, provoking public disorder, and inciting violence against law enforcement agencies.
An FIR was initially registered in the case at Police Station Shergarhi, Srinagar, on the day of the violence.
"The NIA took over the investigation of the case in April 2026 on the directives of the Ministry of Home Affairs. Further investigation in the case is going on,” the NIA spokesperson added.
