NIA arrests Syed Salahuddin's son Shahid Yusuf in connection with terror funding case

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday arrested Syed Shahid Yusuf, son of Hizbul Mujahideen chief and ‘specially designated global terrorist’ Syed Salahuddin, and charged him with hawala funding regarding a 2011 terrorism case. Yusuf, who works as a horticulturist with the Jammu and Kashmir state government, was reportedly being questioned in New Delhi by the NIA, CNN-News18 reported.

#BREAKING – Syed Salahuddin’s son Syed Shahid Yusuf arrested by NIA for Hawala funding | original input @manojkumargupta pic.twitter.com/hEqhPn6PbK

— News18 (@CNNnews18) October 24, 2017

The channel further added that Yusuf received money worth Rs 3.40 lakh in seven installments between 2011 and 2014. The money was allegedly routed through Saudi Arabia by a man identified as Aijaz Ahmed Bhat, a declared absconder who was charge-sheeted with four others in a previous case back in 2011. [caption id=“attachment_4170565” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Syed Salahuddin. Courtesy: CNN-News18[/caption] The NIA is probing illegal funding, including through hawala channels, for terrorist activities in parts of Kashmir Valley. It has registered multiple cases in this connection. Yusuf’s name was under the scanner in the past as well, but this is the first time he’s being arrested formally by an investigating agency, the TV news channel reported. Two SIM cards recovered from Yusuf’s person have been sent for forensic testing, and initial tests have confirmed the agency’s theories that there were conversations taking place between Yusuf and Bhat, it was revealed. His father Mohammed Yusuf Shah — better known as Syed Salahuddin  — was in June 2017 declared a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the US Department of State. Yusuf’s arrest is the latest attack as part of the NIA’s intense crackdown against Kashmir’s business and political leaders. In June this year, the NIA carried out searches at 14 places in Kashmir and eight places in Delhi  in connection with terror funding received from Pakistan for carrying out subversive activities in the Valley. Among those raided were close aides and the kin of hardline separatist Syed Ali Shah Geelani and others in the Hurriyat Conference. This apart, MLA Engineer Rashid was also summoned by the investigating agency. Rashid’s name had cropped up during the interrogation of businessman Zahoor Watali, who was arrested by NIA for allegedly supplying money to terror groups and separatists in the Valley. The arrest comes a day after Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday announced the decision to start a dialogue process in Jammu and Kashmir and named former Intelligence Bureau Director Dineshwar Sharma as its representative for the talks with all stakeholders in the state. With inputs from agencies