jj correspondent
Srinagar, June 12: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday attached 17 properties of alleged financier of terrorism in J&K, Zahoor Ahmed Shah Watali, in the Hurriyat terror funding case, an agency spokesman said on Monday.
Watali is now facing trial before the Special NIA Court in New Delhi.
They said 17 properties belonging to Watali were attached in the Handwara area of Kupwara in Jammu Kashmir by the NIA on orders from Special NIA Court, Patiala House, under section 33(1) of the UA(P) Act today.
The NIA said the case relates to terrorist and secessionist activities in Jammu & Kashmir carried out by proscribed ISI-backed organisations, such as Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM).
“These outfits were spreading terror and perpetrating violence in the valley by promoting and conducting attacks on civilians and security forces,” they said.
NIA said these banned terrorist groups were using the All Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC), which was formed in1993, as a front for carrying out and supporting secessionist activities in Kashmir.
“Investigations in the case have revealed that the secessionists, arraigned as accused in the case, including the APHC, had entered into a criminal conspiracy and adopted a strategy of instigating the general public to create a surcharged atmosphere in the Kashmir valley and to resort to violence also. Watali had been sending the funds raised by him from various sources to the Hurriyat leaders to promote the secessionism of Jammu & Kashmir from the Union of India,” the NIA spokesperson said.
NIA said the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front leader Yasin Malik is currently undergoing life imprisonment in the same case.
Besides Malik, 17 others, including Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, Ameer of Jammat-ud-Dawah & top Commander of LeT and Mohammad Yusuf Shah alias Syed Salahuddin, top Commander of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, were charge-sheeted in the case, which had been registered suo moto by the NIA on May 30, 2017.
NIA said their investigations have revealed that Watali was a hawala conduit, who was receiving money from Hafiz Saeed, who features in the US’s list of ‘Specially Designated Global terrorist’ and the UN’S ‘listed global terrorist’.
“Hafiz Saeed had masterminded the 2001 Parliament attack and the 2008 Mumbai attacks. He had received foreign remittances into bank account running into crores between 2011 and 2013 from various sources. Besides, he had received foreign remittances in his Proprietorship Firm named M/s ‘Trisson International’, Srinagar and unexplained remittances were also found in his NRE bank accounts,” the NIA said.
Watali had shown the sale of a plot of land measuring 20 kanals, purportedly owned by Watali’s company, M/s ‘Trison Farms and Constructions Pvt. Ltd.’ to one Naval Kishore Kapoor, a co-accused in the case.
“However, the investigations found that neither Watali nor his above-mentioned company was the owner of this plot of land in the revenue records,” they said. UNI
