NIA detains Kashmiri separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani's son-in-law, two others on alleged terror funding

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday detained Altaf Ahemed Shah, son-in-law of Kashmiri separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani and two others in connection of alleged terror funding received by separatists for carrying out subversive activities in the Valley. Two other Hurriyat leaders — Ayaz Akbar and Mehraj ud Din Kalwal — were also detained by Srinagar Police, ANI reported_._

Police in Srinagar have detained three Hurriyat (G) leaders who were to be questioned by NIA in Delhi. pic.twitter.com/DWcrx46aqv

— ANI (@ANI) June 28, 2017

[caption id=“attachment_3493151” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani. PTI[/caption] A report in The Times of India stated that NIA had questioned Altaf Shah, popularly known as Altaf Fantoosh, on 12 June over his movable and other properties, including houses in the Valley as well as in Jammu, and the source for their funding. According to reports, the police raided the houses of these leaders and arrested them. Police also raided the residence of another Tehreek-e-Hurriyat leader Pir Saifullah, India Today reported. Saifullah, however, was not at home. Hindustan Times had reported that the NIA team had arrived in Srinagar on Thursday last week. They collected the memory devices and cameras used in the sting operation to verify the contents. The report further added that they were subjected to forensic tests. NIA on 3 June had raided 14 places in Srinagar, including the houses of three separatist leaders — Tehreek-e-Hurriyat leader Ghazi Javed Baba, Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front leader Farooq Ahmed Dar aka Bitta Karate, and suspended Hurriyat leader Nayeem Khan — and their aides. The agency is probing all aspects of alleged terror funding of separatist leaders by Lashkar-e-Taiba and other Pakistan sources, and use of this money in fuelling unrest in the Valley after the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani in a gunfight on 8 July, 2016. Nayeem Khan had allegedly confessed to receiving money to incite trouble in Kashmir. The video clipping was released by _India Today_ _TV_ channel on 16 May. The separatist leadership in a joint statement said that the policy of “witch-hunt launched by the Indian state against the resistance leadership and the business community of the Valley to defame and weaken the people’s political struggle and simultaneously cripple the economy of Kashmir is despicable and deplorable to say the least.”