A special NIA court issued non-bailable warrants against Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) founder, Hafiz Saeed and Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin for their involvement in terror funding activities.
As per reports, NIA spokesperson has stated, “The National Investigative Agency (NIA) approached the special NIA court for issuing non-bailable warrants against Hafiz Saeed and Syed Salahuddin for their active involvement in terror funding for creating unrest in the Kashmir valley and other parts of India.”
The move came after the NIA approached the court seeking issuance of non-bailable warrants against Saeed, also the founder of Jamat-ul Dawa, and Salahuddin alias Yusuf Shah, a resident of Budgam district in Jammu and Kashmir who presently stays in Islamabad.
“The two are accused of mobilising Pakistan-trained terrorists and pushing them into India from Pakistan in connivance with secessionist and separatist leaders for waging war against India with the nefarious design of seceding Jammu and Kashmir,” the NIA official reportedly said.
The anti-terror agency had on January 18, filed 1279 pages charge sheet against 12 persons including Saeed, Salahuddin, seven Kashmiri separatist leaders and others in the case of alleged terror funding in the Kashmir Valley. The case was registered on May 30, 2017, and the first arrests were made on July 24 last year.
The separatist leaders arrested in the case on July 24, 2017, were Aftab Hilali Shah alias Shahid-ul-Islam, Ayaz Akbar Khandey, Farooq Ahmad Dar alias Bitta Karate, Nayeem Khan, Altaf Ahmad Shah, Raja Mehrajuddin Kalwal and Bashir Ahmad Bhat alias Peer Saifullah.
Kashmiri businessman Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watali was also arrested in the case on August 17, 2017, and was on September 12 granted bail by the Delhi High Court.
While investigating, the NIA teams conducted searches at over 60 locations spread across Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana and Delhi and seized over 950 documents and over 600 electronic devices. It also said that over 300 witnesses were examined during the probe.
We had earlier reported how due to the lackadaisical attitude of the present Pakistan Tehereek-i-Insaf (PTI) government led by Imran Khan, who is known to have a soft corner for terrorists, the Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed’s outfits JuD and FIF were no longer on the list of banned outfits in Pakistan.
It was further reported how the United States had slammed Pakistan for effectively lifting the ban on Hafiz Saeed led Jamat-ul-Dawa and Falah-i-Insaniyat Foundation (FIF), which is against Pakistan’s commitment to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and also against its commitments to fight terrorism under the UN Security Council resolution.
