NIA grills 3 separatist leaders to probe Pak role in terror funding
NEWDELHI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday questioned three Kashmiri separatists in a probe into the funding of subversive activities in Jammu and Kashmir.
Former militant and Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (R) chairman Farooq Ahmed Dar, alias Bitta Karate, Javed Ahmed Baba of the Tehreek-eHurriyat and Nayeem Khan of the National Front were summoned to the National Investigation Agency headquarters in Delhi.
The National Investigation Agency Inspector General and spokesperson Alok Mittal said the three separatists were questioned till late Monday evening and were asked to be present at the headquarters on Tuesday morning as well.
The agency on May 19 filed a preliminary enquiry to probe the funding of last year’s unrest in the Valley that saw heavy stone-pelting, burning of schools and other government buildings.
A preliminary enquiry is an initial probe that determines if a case needs further investigation.
The three, according to National Investigation Agency officials, were asked to bring along details of their bank accounts and property papers, official sources in the investigating agency said.
Kashmir was rocked by violent street protests after Hizbul Mujahideen militant commander, Burhan Wani, was killed in a gunfight with security forces on July 8.
More than 100 people, most of them civilians, were killed in clashes with security forces amid a rolling curfew and prolonged shutdowns called by the separatist parties such as Hurriyat Conference and Tehreek-eHurriyat which is headed by Syed Ali Shah Geelani.
J&K LIBERATION FRONT (R) CHAIRMAN FAROOQ AHMED DAR, JAVED AHMED BABA OF THE TEHREEKEHURRIYAT AND NAYEEM KHAN OF THE NATIONAL FRONT WERE SUMMONED