ED attaches jailed separatist leader’s house in Srinagar
SRINAGAR: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached the house of jailed separatist leader Shabir Ahmad Shah in Srinagar under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. The house, worth Rs 21.80 lakh, is located at Botshah Colony of Sanat Nagar.
The ED had initiated a money laundering probe against Shah on the basis of an FIR filed on May 30, 2017 against Hafiz Muhammad Saeed and others under various sections of the UAPA. Shah was arrested on July 25, 2017 by the ED from Srinagar and is presently lodged at Tihar Jail in New Delhi.
According to the ED, during the investigation, it came to light that Shah was involved in the activities of fuelling unrest in Kashmir by way of organising stone pelting, protests and other subversive activities.
It added that the probe under PMLA revealed that Shah was involved in getting funds from the militant organisation, Hizbul Mujahideen, and other militant outfits based in Pakistan as well as from the Pakistani establishment through hawala and other means, and that these funds were used for supporting militant activities.
“During the course of investigation, an immovable property worth `21.80 lakh owned in the name of Shabir Shah was identified and the same has been provisionally attached under PMLA,” the ED statement said. Earlier, the NIA had attached the residential house of jailed woman separatist leader Asiya Andrabi in Soura area of downtown Srinagar.