NIA grills Geelani’s son-in-law Fantoosh

NEWDELHI: Kashmir hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani’s son-in-law, Altaf Ahmed Shah, was questioned by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in connection with its probe into the funding of terror and subversive activities in Kashmir, on Friday.

Shah, popularly known as Altaf Fantoosh, arrived at the NIA headquarters here on Friday morning and was questioned by a team of officials about the alleged funding of the Geelani-led Tehrek-e-Hurriyat, offical sources said. His Srinagar house was raided by NIA sleuths, who also searched the premises of others, such as Shahid-ul-Islam, a close aide of Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, who heads the moderate faction of the Hurriyat Conference, and businessman Zahoor Watali.

The NIA had collected “some material” from Shah’s residence which was scrutinised by the sleuths before he was called for questioning here, the sources said, adding his examination will carry on for a few days before his statement was recorded.

Apart from being the son-inlaw of Geelani, Shah is perceived to be influential in the policies of the Tehrek-e-Hurriyat.

The NIA had conducted raids last week on the residences of separatists and businessmen in the Kashmir Valley, Jammu, Delhi and Haryana’s Sonepat and Gurgaon. Among those raided were separatists Ayaz Akbar, Peer Saifullah, Nayeem Khan and Farooq Ahmed Dar.